In 1998 Debra Puglisi Sharp's husband Nino was  murdered their Newark home. The attacker, Donald Flagg  a crack addict, brutalized her after shooting her spouse. She was kidnapped, bound, beaten and raped, then held hostage for five days. Convinced she would die, Puglisi Sharp attempted to befriend her captor, and then, while he left for work, she managed to loosen the ties from her wrists. She found a phone, called 9-1-1, and miraculously, she was rescued.