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Show To Air Story Of Woman Attacked While Showing House

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By YOLANDA FERNANDEZ | News Channel 8

Published: January 8, 2009

James Parcher

A former St. Petersburg real estate agent who was attacked while showing a house three years ago will share her ordeal on national television.

Julie Roberts' story will air at 9 p.m. Jan. 19 on "I Survived," a show on The Biography Channel.

On March 3, 2006, Roberts, now 51, was showing several houses to a prospective buyer. She recalls he was extremely well-groomed and wore expensive dress clothes. After spending four hours with him, his demeanor changed drastically, she said.

They were in a vacant house and Roberts was measuring a wall when the man pulled out a gun and pistol-whipped her, she said.

"As soon as he hit me in the back of the head with the gun, I knew I was in trouble. Before my nose hit the carpet, I was already saying, 'Oh, God, help me. ... I do not know what I am supposed to do," she said.

The man used a plastic zip-tie to immobilize Roberts' hands, took her keys and went to her car to get her purse, she said. Roberts freed herself, but the man came back before she could escape. He grabbed her again and threw her to the ground, she said.

"He pulled me up by my hair and put the knife to my throat and said, 'Give me your ATM numbers, and if they're not right, I will kill you, and I will know because you're coming with me.' "

He eventually put the gun and knife down to bind her hands again, and she grabbed the gun, she said.

Roberts didn't realize it, but her arm was broken and she couldn't handle the gun. He knocked it away before she could use it to defend herself, she said.

Roberts, pleading for her life, suggested he leave her locked in a closet. He agreed, and she was able to escape a few minutes after he left, she said.

Her arm broken and with injuries to her head and knees, she immediately went public so other real estate agents could avoid being victimized.

About two months later, Hillsborough County deputies arrested James Parcher, 29, of Tampa, on an unrelated charge and found Roberts' personal items in his home. Parcher was charged with aggravated battery and robbery. His trial is scheduled for March.

Parcher is being held without bail in Hillsborough County.

Roberts says she fully recovered from her injuries but chose not to return to real estate. She hopes telling her story again will help others, she said.

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