The man at the center of Kathie Lee Gifford’s story about how Donald Trump came to her rescue when her life was threatened has been identified.
Richard D. Jones, 65, had made the threat against the then-TV host in September of 1993 after authorities said he bound and raped his aunt, and burned lit cigarettes out on her breasts.
Officials with Gaston County Police Department said at the time of the incident that Jones made off with $1,500 from the home and fled in his aunt’s car.
He had made remarks during the attack that he was going to ‘kidnap Kathie Lee because she had a lot of money’, authorities said.
That caused officials in North Carolina to reach out to authorities in Connecticut, where the TV presenter had a home at the time, and at Atlantic City.
Police said at the time that they recovered a scrapbook from Jones that contained pictures of Gifford. He had left it behind at his aunt’s home.
Gifford emotionally recalled the incident while speaking on The Stage Steele Show on Friday, and revealed President Trump had a part to play in her safety.
She had been set to host the Miss American pageant in Atlantic City when the FBI contacted her about Jones’ threat.
Richard D. Jones, seen here, had made remarks during the attack that he was going to ‘kidnap Kathie Lee because she had a lot of money’
Gifford attends the REAGAN Nashville premiere at AMC DINE-IN Thoroughbred 20 on August 25, 2024 in Franklin, Tennessee
Gifford had been on her way to the city with her daughter Cassidy, then a newborn, and her late husband, NFL legend Frank Gifford.
She recalled: ‘The FBI called my husband, and they said, “Mr. Gifford, we have a problem. This is a very, very bad human being.”
‘”He’s coming to get your wife”.’
Gifford said the FBI told her husband about the incident involving Jones’ aunt and asked them to keep their schedule the same to not tip off the criminal.
‘Somebody told me how she finally got away from him,’ she continued. ‘He left. He stole her keys and told her, ‘Now I’m going to go after Kathie Lee.’
She said her husband refused to agree until he made one phone call, and after the FBI allowed him to do so, ‘He called Donald.’
Gifford said that the suspect would have known her location because she always stayed at the Trump Plaza and Casino when she was in Atlantic City.
The now-president ensured her young family would be safe by flying her to the hotel. ‘And this is why I will love this man for my whole life,’ she said.
Gifford said Trump stepped in when her late husband, NFL legend Frank Gifford, was warned by the FBI that she had received a death threat (the three are pictured together in 1995)
Gifford explained that she was unaware that Trump stepped in to protect her, and had ‘never heard it until just the other day.’
After her husband Frank called Trump, Gifford claims that Trump responded: ‘Frank, don’t you worry about it. I’ve got your girls. I’ve got your girls. And don’t you worry’.
‘And so Frank called back the FBI and said, “I called Donald Trump. He says he’s going to take care of my wife and my daughter”, Kathie said.
She said that, while still not knowing of the threat against her, she was surprised to be contacted by Trump and told that he was sending his private helicopter for her.
Trump didn’t reveal the reason for the surprise act and made up an excuse that it was ‘because you’ve had a baby’ when she questioned him, Gifford said.
‘I said, “Donald, women have babies every day. It’s no big deal. Thank you. But it’s no big deal,”‘ she recalled.
‘And he goes, “No, congratulations. So happy for you… I’m sending my helicopter for you and your baby and your nanny.”‘
After taking the helicopter ride to Atlantic City, Gifford said she arrived to find she was heavily protected by Trump’s security team.
Gifford, pictured with the now-President and First Lady in 2005, said she will ‘always love’ Trump for protecting her from the stalker three decades ago
The star’s late husband Frank Gifford, who died in 2015, insisted on making ‘one call’ to Donald Trump after being warned by the FBI, she claimed in a recent interview
‘I mean, these guys are major, major, and they’re like, “Mrs. Gifford, Mr. Trump wants you to know that we’re here for you,”‘ she recalled.
Even as extra security joined her, Gifford said she didn’t question their presence too much as she had recently given birth and had ‘all kinds of stuff going on.’
‘I just never thought about it, you know?’ she said. ‘But he never said a word. Nobody said a word to me.’
She said she spent a week in preparation for the pageant without knowing about the threat against her life, and only realized on the day of the pageant when she saw a newspaper headline about the suspect coming for her.
When the organizers asked if she was reconsidering getting on stage, she said she responded: ‘Hell no… nobody’s going to make me afraid.’
Once she arrived home to Connecticut, Gifford said she went to a movie theater with her son, and an FBI agent told her the suspect had been caught.
‘In the middle of the movie, one of the FBI guys comes over and goes, “Mrs. Gifford, we got this son of a b****,”‘ she said. ‘I said, “Thank you so much.”‘
Officials caught up with Jones at a bus station in Lynchburg the day after he made the comments, according to old reports from The Roanoke Times.
Speaking in 1993, Gaston County Police Captain Archie Huffstetler said: ‘He had made mention that he would like to kidnap [Gifford] and get some money.’
According to Jones’ incarceration record, he was convicted of numerous charges relating to the incident including rape and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
He was handed a life sentence, according to his record, with a total of 51 infractions recorded on his record. He is currently serving time inside the Maury Correctional Institution.