On January 27, 1996, CC Opanowski was alone at the university at Hudson Falls University in New York, and her ex-boyfriend Shawn Doyle hit the door, her mother stayed for her mother. Opanowski grew up with Doyle and dated him in high school and first year of college.

After entering the room, Opanowski said Doyle became violent. She said: “He pushed me onto the couch and started to hold me down, tie me up, yelled at me. Then, she said, Doyle picked up the scissors and cut off the ponytail. “He picked me up, lifted me, cut off my hair, and just everything.” ”

"48 Hours" correspondent Anne-Marie Green asked Opanowski: "What's it like to have your hair cut off this way?" Opanowski replied: "Deprecating." Green continued: "You think that's why he did this?" Opanowski replied: "Probably to make sure he could knock me down somewhere."

Opanowski said Doyle was in and out of violent violence, and at one time he stuffed scissors into her throat. "I thought he would stab me," she told Green.

Opanowski shares her powerful story for the first time with "48 Hours" and tells the attack, the long road to recovery and the power it brings to face attackers in court. Green reported a case that spanned nearly three decades of "Facing Monsters" and aired on CBS on Saturday, May 10 and on Paramount+.

Opanowski said she didn't think she wouldn't be alive until her college roommate and close friend Shannon McCauliffe called her. Doyle allowed Opanowski to answer the phone, but she said he was watching her every move. "By the grace of God, she (Shannon) figured out where he was based on my voice and how I answered her voice."

McCauliffe knows that Doyle has a history of harassing Opanowski and is concerned about the safety of her friends. She hung up and called the police immediately. Opanowski initially breathed a sigh of relief when authorities arrived. But Hudson Falls police "didn't put him (Doy) in handcuffs... They put us behind the same police car." Worse, when they arrived at the police station, they didn't separate them, she said the police interviewed them together. Opanowski said she believes the police did not take the matter seriously. "They made the battle between the two kids seem like a struggle, turning it into a little darkness," she told Green.

When 48 Hours reached out with the Hudson Falls Police Department, they acknowledged that over the past few decades, law enforcement responses to domestic violence have developed to better cooperate and support with victims. Police arrested Doyle and charged him with crime, harassment and trespassing. He will eventually plead guilty on his second degree and be sentenced to three years of probation. Opanowski says she is scared of Doyle. She moved to college and stayed away from Hudson Falls.

Opanowski left her past in the summer of 2005 (nine years after the attack) when she learned Doyle was arrested for murdering the young mother of two boys, 33. "I can't believe what I'm hearing...I feel for her entire family and her two little kids," Opanowski said.

Lori Leonard met Doyle with Doyle on the dating site cupid.com in 2003. She lived for three hours from Doyle, Chittenango, New York, a small town outside Syracuse. Lori Leonard's sister Jennifer Leonard said they only dated for a short time due to Doyle's grumpy temper. Jennifer Leonard said: "I called her one night and he was there and all I heard in the backstage was him yelling at her. What was that?"

Despite being broken up, Lori Leonard told Jennifer Leonard that they agreed to be friends and Doyle was good too. Jennifer Leonard said she was skeptical. "I was like, no, he wasn't. No. People like this can be more than just friends," she said.

On April 29, 2005, a few days before Lori Leonard disappeared, Shawn Doyle helped her move into her new rental apartment. Doyle provided his truck. Jennifer Leonard said: "She asked a few people before that. So he was the last resort. He was still playing 'I'm your friend'." According to Jennifer Leonard, the move went smoothly, except for the fact that Doyle decided to hang out. She said his presence was in the nerves of her sister. But five days later, on May 4, Lori Leonard told her that Doyle was finally leaving. Lori Leonard plans to drive to Albany that day and pick up Yankee tickets from people she meets at work. Later on the afternoon of May 4, Jennifer Leonard called her sister in hopes of catching her on her way to Albany. Instead, Lori Leonard's phone keeps using voicemail. Jennifer Leonard said she thought it was weird. “Her phone calls never go directly to voicemail,” she said.

Twenty-four hours later, when Lori Leonard never called or returned home, Jennifer Leonard called the Chittenango Police Department. Detective Wade Irwin searches her rental property. There was no sign of breaking in, nor did there be crimes at home. He said Lori Leonard should meet to get a Yankee ticket when they interviewed the man, and his unfavorable Billy (Alibi) check out. When they interviewed Doyle, Irving said: "He always kept saying...he left her and she was still living in the apartment."

Irving said they couldn't clean him up when they checked his alibi. However, Doyle was collaborative and even allowed investigators to search his truck and take photos. When they searched Doyle's glove pod, they found something curious: the key with the serial number on it. At the time, that didn't mean much to investigators. But this will become important for the case.

On July 24, 2005, Lori Leonard disappeared for three months and the case was rested. Lori Leonard's body was found in a metal toolbox found in the Canal of Lake Champlain. "She was handcuffed behind her back. There was tape around the handcuffs. Her feet were tied together, and the tape was tied together. Her face, from head to chin, had tape. Irving said the investigation quickly came together, and it all led to Shawn Doyle. The keys they found in Doyle's glove compartment matched the lock of the toolbox, directly linking him to the crime. When investigators searched Doyle's residence, Irving said they found "similar handcuffs, turbans, tape and other means that he used to match what was used on Lori. "Doyle was arrested and charged with second-degree murder one day after the discovery of Lori Leonard's body.

On January 23, 2006, Doyle's trial began. Washington County District Attorney Kevin Korright said the heart of his case was to have Opanowski testify. He said her testimony was important because "it showed his ability...it was his method of committing the crime. It was strong evidence." However, Opanowski was not the only ex-girlfriend that Doyle attacked. Five years after Doyle attacked Opanowski, he tried to kill another young woman. The judge ruled that both women could stand. Korright said he chose to call Opanowski his last witness. "You always do it for the last best," he said.

Years later, Opanowski bravely faced her attackers and told the jury about the lasting pain that caused her attack. She said she was determined. "I need to make sure he was abandoned for the murder of Lori," she said. On January 26, 2006, the jury returned with a sentence: Shawn Doyle was convicted of second-degree murder.

Opanowski said it was still difficult to deal with the fact that a person who had loved was convicted of murder over the years. She hopes others can learn from her stories. "Be alert. Look at what's going on in front of you and make sure someone knows it. Don't keep it quiet. Pay attention to the feeling that doesn't go away when you feel that way, you know, the person you're trying to come down, that's the most you should listen to."