'After I left my husband, police knocked on my door and his secret life unravelled.'

Content warning: This story includes descriptions of sexual assault/domestic violence that may be distressing to some readers.

Take a moment to walk in Bonnie Lou Garver's rather unorthodox shoes. 

Imagine that you fall madly in love with your neighbour's brother and get married at 17, only to divorce by 25. You move on and remarry, have two kids, but then the police arrive at your doorstep, claiming that your first husband is a serial killer who murdered three women. 

Not only that, but he was allegedly actively killing people while you were still married to him. 

We did say unorthodox. 

This is the story that Bonnie Lou Garver, the ex-wife of convicted American serial killer Richard Evonitz is telling on TikTok, and it is riveting, albeit disturbing stuff. 

If you're thinking to yourself, that is a story to fill a book, you'd be right. Garver has actually written one and is on the lookout for a publisher. In the meantime, she is answering the many questions her story elicits on TikTok. This is what we know so far. 

Bonnie Lou on her relationship with serial killer Richard Evonitz.

@bonnielouwriter Who else can relate? #truecrime #author #foryoupage ♬ original sound - Bonnie Lou

Bonnie Lou is now married with children, but when she was in the sixth grade, she was a normal American school kid. Bonnie would often play at her friend's house, which was three doors down from her own. 

Bonnie's friend's brother, Richard Evonitz — whom she has now officially named on her TikTok — was in the Navy and rarely around. However, when he was back on leave, Bonnie got to know him and naturally had a crush on him as her friend's older brother. 

When she turned 16, Bonnie says Richard started flirting with her and asked her out. 

While her family wasn't in favour of it, due to their age gap, they were familiar with the Evonitzs and decided to let Bonnie move ahead with the relationship. 

Bonnie and Richard ended up getting married very quickly when Bonnie was just 17 and Richard was 25. 

"Honestly, that sounds crazy, except that my life was, like, really chaotic at the time," she said on social media. 

"When he asked me to marry him, I just jumped on it, because it was really the best thing I had going for me."

The pair tied the knot, and in 1988, they moved to Maine. From Bonnie's recount, everything was fine at first and she was in a love bubble fantasy of what married life meant. 

Richard was clear with Bonnie about her responsibilities, including cooking, cleaning and correctly laundering his Navy uniforms. 

"I took all of this in and just worked really hard to please him. And I was happy to do that because I loved him and wanted to make him happy," she said. 

However, within the first month of moving away, things started to turn. Bonnie says she had gained some weight and Richard picked at it, telling her that she needed to go on Weight Watchers and that if she cheated on the diet she would end up 'fat like her mother'. 

"As time was going on, I was regretting my choice of getting married, but I had made a commitment," Bonnie said. "I believed in that commitment, in marriage, and that it's forever, and that you have to work on it. 

"I also had a lot of people tell me that I was too young to get married at the time. I was pretty determined at the time to prove everybody wrong."

That's all Bonnie has told so far on TikTok. 

However, news reports show us that Bonnie was married to Evonitz from 1988 to 1996, and in 1988 during their first year of marriage, he received his first conviction. 

Washington Post reports that the conviction was for exposing himself to a teenager and toddler in Florida, with Evonitz confessing his guilt both orally and in writing. 

The police write-up reportedly said, "Suspect stated he has a problem with masturbating in front of girls.

"When he feels the urge he drives around looking for a girl 18-19 years old short in height and has brunette hair."

While we anxiously wait for Bonnie's next instalment, here's what we know so far about Richard Evonitz and how Bonnie fits into the story. 

Everything to know about American serial killer Richard Evonitz. 

Richard Evonitz. Image: FBI

Richard Evonitz is an American serial killer who murdered at least three teenage girls in Virginia. 

In 2003, he abducted 15-year-old Kara Robinson from a friend's front yard where she was watering plants. 

Robinson told People that a man pulled up with 'pamphlets' asking if the girl's parents were home. When she said her friend's parents weren't, he pulled out a gun and forced her into a storage bin in the back of a car. Gagged and handcuffed, she was driven to his apartment where she was sexually assaulted for 18 hours. 

Per Washington Post, it was the same apartment that he shared with his second wife, Hope Marie Crowley (married 1999-2002), who was just 19, and on holiday at Walt Disney World at the time. 

Robinson said she appeased Evonitz while she was in captivity, so that he would feel comfortable enough to fall asleep.

Managing to slip out of the handcuffs while he slept, she ran out of the house and was taken to the police station by two men who found her. 

Kara Robinson. Image: Oxygen

When police went to the home where Robinson was kept, they found newspaper clippings of two other unsolved cases: the murders of Sofia Silva (16) in September 1996 and sisters Kati Lisk (12) and Kristin Lisk (15) in May 1997, per People.

Police tracked Evonitz down in Sarasota, Florida, but he soon took his own life at 38 years old.

While his name is officially tied to the Silva and Lisk murders, The Mirror reports that investigators also found other addresses and descriptions of young girls in Evonitz's apartment. 

Per Washington Post, Evonitz told his family that he committed "more crimes than he can remember" while driving south to Florida.

Bonnie's TikTok suggests there could be more female victims. 

She said her first husband was a "serial killer who murdered three girls, one of which, while [we] were still married.

Adding, "20 years later [I] found out that he was actually murdering people before [we] were married and throughout [our] entire marriage."

Could Bonnie be about to allege further murders not formally identified? We'll have to wait and see.

If this has raised any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service.

Mamamia is a charity partner of RizeUp Australia, a national organisation that helps women, children and families move on after the devastation of domestic and family violence. Their mission is to deliver life-changing and practical support to these families when they need it most. If you would like to support their mission you can donate here.

Featured Image: TikTok: bonnielouwriter/Escaping Captivity: The Kara Robinson Story.

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