PAUL TRAUB: I heard one noise at first. I thought it was the refrigerator kicking on. But then when I realized that there were lights moving around, I realized there was somebody in the house.
JAMES BACKSTROM: This was just a completely random crime in the community, where individuals who are out, looking to steal things, found an open garage door.
PAUL TRAUB: I got hit on the side of the head. As I was tumbling onto the floor, I couldn't figure out why my head was bleeding. All told there were 17 stabs in the back and, uh, two in the head and one in the cheek. The next thing I remember I opened my eyes and I saw that my bed was on fire.
JAMES BACKSTROM: Paul Traub literally had to run through a wall of flames to get out. He was as much concerned about the safety of his neighbors in the fourplex in which he lived as he was for his own safety.
WANDA TROUSIL: I remember the first thing I woke up, I heard pounding on the door. When I opened up the door, "Oh, my God, what happened?" I realized very quickly it was Paul.
JEREMIAH MAHLER: It shocked me, the amount of trauma that he had suffered, that he was able to provide us with valuable information, helped us in the case immediately.
PAUL TRAUB: I have no idea why this was so violent. Um, I've asked myself that a few times and I... I have no answer for it.
WANDA TROUSIL: He saved the rest of us, because if he wouldn't have got out it, it could be a lot worse.
JAMES BACKSTROM: Paul Traub's survival in one of the most brutal home invasion attacks that's ever occurred in our county's history is just a testament to his strength, his courage, his willpower.
PAUL TRAUB: Victim Services played a tremendous role in my healing. I've described them as angels. They took whatever anxiety I might have in trying to testify in the courtroom and tried to make it as... as easy for me as they could.
JAMES BACKSTROM: He had to recount what had occurred. When you have to relive a nightmare like that, I think it just makes it even worse.
PAUL TRAUB: I believe I have a fairly strong faith, and I believe that that is what carried me through that night. I didn't know if I was going to walk out alive, but I knew that no matter what happened, whether I did or I didn't, that things were going to be okay for me.
JAMES BACKSTROM: We're just grateful that he's still with us, because he's an amazing man.
