Tiffany Engle, savagely beaten by serial rapist Brent Brents and left for dead, made hundreds of people laugh Monday by making fun of herself.
On April 18, 2005, the former property manager went to check on a Capitol Hill apartment to make sure workmen hadn’t made a mess.
In the apartment, she stumbled on Brents’ hiding place and one of his rape victims. Brents repeatedly hit her with a 2×4, tied her up and left her for dead.
She spent six months in a hospital.
“I don’t really remember … most of the four weeks (after the beating), although I do recall calling my own press conference much to the dismay of my doctors, my parents and (Denver District Attorney Mitch) Morrissey, ” she said to the laughter of those attending a ceremony Monday celebrating National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.
“Only if I had seen myself in a mirror with half my head shaved and my eyes so black, blue and purple – perhaps I wouldn’t have been so eager,” Engle said.
“I was one of the lucky ones because I was not one of the rape victims,” she said. “But I was injured very severely. It was by the grace of God I made my way out of the apartment and to the front street where two strangers stopped to help me and called 911.”
Morrissey told the gathering at the Wellington E. Webb Municipal Office Building that he and Engle have become friends. He has visited her at two hospitals, and they’ve met several times since.
“I’ve got to tell you to see how she has recovered and how far she has come is just remarkable,” he said.
Engle, who occasionally wept during her presentation, thanked the Denver Police Department, which she said worked “diligently” in helping to catch Brents. She also thanked the community for offers of free service, from hotel rooms to counseling.
Others who spoke were Ruth Sanders, a woman now living in Denver who saw her son murdered in New Orleans, and Susan Moran, the wife of Officer Shawn Leinen, killed by 16-year-old Raymond James Gone on Feb. 25, 1995.
Moran received the first-ever Civil Courage Award from Morrissey for speaking on behalf of victims before the Colorado legislature.
Moran said she talks to legislators on behalf of families who emotionally aren’t up to talking about their deceased loved ones.
“I’ve gone … because there are so many people around me who can’t even think about going,” Moran said.
Sanders said that after her son was murdered 18 months ago in New Orleans, she wanted out of the city and got her wish when Hurricane Katrina hit.
Sanders was plucked from a New Orleans rooftop, put on an airplane and told three hours into the flight she was headed to Denver. She said it was the best thing that could have happened.
“All you have to do is ask,” Sanders said, “and the people of Denver open their hearts and give it to you.”
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-820-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
