How a woman escaped near-certain death after meeting the Cook brothers

Just after midnight on January 27, 1981, Cheryl Bartlett Fann, then 18, surprised her fiancéeBud Coates, 22, upon meeting him after his shift at the grocery store in Toledo, Ohio, where he worked as a meat cutter.

On their way home, the young couple were ambushed by two brothers – Anthony and Nathaniel Cook – who raped her before shooting her in the back.

Dizzy from the blood she was losing rapidly, all she could think about was their 15-month-old son, Eric, and what would happen to him if she died. Little did she know that she was one of the many victims of the notorious Cook brothers, who went on a horrific killing spree in Ohio in the early 1970s and 1980s.

Even though Fann provided details about her attackers' appearance, she was dismayed that authorities were unable to use her description to convict Anthony and Nathaniel.

“I was furious and I felt disappointed,” she tells PEOPLE.

But in 1982, Anthony was convicted of the murder of businessman Peter Sawicki and sentenced to life in prison. Nathaniel was arrested in 1998 for the murder of Thomas Gordon. The prosecutor at the time offered both brothers a plea deal in Gordon's death — something Fann didn't want.

Under the terms of the deal, Anthony would remain in prison, but Nathaniel would be eligible for parole in 20 years if both confessed to all of their rapes and murders. Anthony confessed to eight murders between 1971 and 1983 and Nathaniel confessed to three. (Anthony was already in prison for killing his ninth victim.)

In 2018, Nathaniel was conditionally released from prison.

Now 61, Fann – who appears in a new episode of People Magazine investigates: Surviving a serial killer on Sunday June 9 at 9/8c on ID and streaming on Max — tells PEOPLE in her own words how she managed to escape death when so many others did not. (An exclusive clip from the episode is below.)

In January 1981, Bud and I moved into our own apartment in Toledo. It was across town from my parents. We had only been living in our apartment, I think, for maybe a week or two when this happened.

On January 27, 1981, Bud's brother Donnie cut my hair and put on my makeup and I thought, “I'm going to go over there to the store where Bud worked and surprise him.”

When I first walked in the door, Bud was mad at me for coming in alone. Then it calmed down and it was around 1am when we were walking home. We were talking about our marriage and the possibility of having another baby.

All of a sudden my body started shaking as if something bad was going to happen. I started to panic.

Want to stay up to date with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

A week before, I dreamed that I was shot. The night before my dream, I was raped and shot. But I couldn't make out the faces of those doing this.

I told my mom about it and my mom said, “I need you to stay home. Do not go out. But I was 18 and I'm like, “Oh, I can take care of myself.”

After panicking, I saw a man – who I later learned was Anthony – around the corner from where we were, crossing the street.

I said, 'Bud, something's wrong.' And he kind of shouted, “You need to calm down. Nothing will happen. I will protect you.' I hate those words to this day.

I started to panic more about the dream than anything else. It was like, “Dream comes true.”

I wanted to run away but I didn't know exactly where I was because we just moved there.

Anthony came to us and I gave him my gold and diamond engagement and wedding ring set so he could let us go. Bud gave him his wallet.

Anthony threw us ski masks and told us to cover our faces. I continued to pull mine up and saw what it looked like. Anthony yelled at me to put the mask back on. Then he took us down an alley.

Just before I got to the garage where this happened, I saw another guy coming across the street. He took us into the garage.

I was afraid. I thought for sure I was going to die. I thought I would never see Eric again. I thought, “Who’s going to raise him?” I'm going to miss going to school, graduating, getting married, having kids, all that.

I also thought I should have listened to my mother. I kept hearing my mother's words in my head, and my father begging me, “Don't go out,” and there I was, thinking I wasn't going to make it.

“Then they shot me in the back”

When they finished raping me, they made me get up, get dressed and told Bud to hold me tight. Then they shot me in the back.

I heard the gun click. There were no more bullets.

If they had more bullets, we would have died on the spot until someone found us.

They ran away and I just started screaming and heard a call to the other one: “Let's go, Tony.”

I didn't know I was shot because I didn't feel the bullet go in.

Bud grabbed me and we ran in front of the house and when we stopped he said, “You got hit,” because I had blood on my back.

It got even worse because I started to really hyperventilate. I thought, “I'm probably dead now because I was shot.” »

We went to two houses where people didn't want to help us. We went to a third house where the guy told me I could go in, but he also said, “I don't want you bleeding everywhere.”

Bud went to the apartment to tell Donnie what happened because they stole his wallet. They had to hurry and get Eric out of there in case they came to our apartment. Bud and Donnie took Eric to the neighbors we knew, who looked after him.

I was abroad and the next thing I knew I passed out. The rescue team came and took me to Ohio Medical Career College.

I was hospitalized for three and a half weeks. Since then, I have had over 20 surgeries because of the bullet that shattered when I was shot.

Ripple Effects of a Traumatic Event

Afterward, doctors had to sedate Bud because he lost his mind because of it.

I thought there was nothing I could do, because it had already happened. I had to live my life and I had to take care of my child.

But Bud was upset that he couldn't protect me and left us because of my rape.

I was so in love with him and had a tough time after Bud left us. I started to express my anger at men. They would fall in love with me. Then I would think, “No, it’s time to push him away” and leave them.

Meet and marry your “hero”

I was married three times and had three sons before meeting my husband Danny (Fann) when I was 26. I met him when I moved to Tennessee to get away from everything in Ohio. We have been together for almost 37 years. I spent more than half my life with him. He is my hero.

I started seeing a therapist after the attack, then stopped. Now my best therapy is my husband, Danny. He will listen. He doesn't sit there and say you shouldn't have gone out. He doesn't criticize.

One of the things that still bothers me to this day is that I never got my rings back. The police told me that robbing people was not Anthony and Nathaniel's modus operandi, but how do they know that because most of the other people are dead. But I would like the rings back. I would love to give them to my son, Eric, especially since his father passed away in 2009. Maybe someone knows what happened to the rings. Oh my God.

The Jelly Roll song Save me is one of my favorite songs because it reminds me of my past life – how I went through hell and how I rose above it all. This song is me.

Now I'm just a person trying to live day to day and trying to leave things behind. If I could help anyone else that would be great. I always asked myself: what was my purpose in life? Now I know what it is.

People magazine investigates: surviving a serial killer airs Sunday, June 9 at 9/8c on ID and streams on Max.