True Crime Case #2

On June 3, 1994 at about 1:00 a.m., a lone employee was leaving her job at a small restaurant after her shift in a small Midwestern city. As she left the building, she saw a man standing in the parking lot all by himself. She asked if she could help him and he said no.

The woman walked to her car parked in the rear parking lot of the restaurant. She could hear the man following her. The woman tried to open her car door. It was locked. The woman never locks her car doors. Suddenly the woman was grabbed by the back of the neck. She was able to turn around and saw it was the man. She pushed him back and said, “I’ve got a husband that will hunt you down and kill you. Unless you want my money, which I have none, you better get out of here.” The man, seemingly surprised, said, “It won’t go any further than this?” The woman replied, “I won’t even tell my boss.”
The man then walked away and got into a small older model gray car.

The woman noticed that the man never took his left hand out of his pocket. The woman believed the man intended to take her and rape or assault her in some fashion.

The woman immediately reported this matter to local law enforcement. The woman was extremely distraught given her experience. She told officers she had seen this same man in the restaurant on a previous date, but she doesn’t know who he was. The woman said the one thing that was odd about the man was that he was wearing a pair of tan woman’s boots. She also described him as being a very large man about 6’4” tall and weighing about 300 pounds.

While relaying this incident to the officer, the woman would cry uncontrollably at times and begin to shake when she attempted to recall the incident.

Officers recalled that on June 2, a local postal employee delivering mail had reported he’d seen what appeared to be a large man dressed as a woman, following a female jogger. The man was reported to be driving an older tannish-gray compact car. The postal employee asked the jogger if she knew she was being followed. She said she didn’t and immediately proceeded to her nearby residence. The postal employee reported this matter to police. Officers responded to the area, but were unable to locate the suspicious car.

Given the information from the woman at the restaurant, officers spoke with the postal employee again. The postal employee indicated that he thought he knew who the man might be. He provided the officers with the individual’s name. This particular individual had just been released from prison for sexual assault. Driver license records indicated he weighs 235 pounds and is 6’2” tall. Motor vehicle records indicated he owns a 10-year-old tan Chevrolet Chevette.

The woman from the restaurant was shown a photo line-up that included a photo of the man who had just recently been released from prison. The woman was unable to identify the man that had accosted her.

An officer contacted the man and invited him to the police station. The man agreed and responded. At the police station the man was interviewed. The man stated that he has had a sexual identity problem since he was young and that he has struggled with urges to assault females since he was in the 5th grade. He also indicated that he has been a cross-dresser since early childhood and had engaged in homosexual activity from about the 6th grade until about the 10th grade.

The man stated that on June 2 his urge to sexually assault a woman became very strong. He stated he became very sexually aroused and he decided to go for a ride. Before leaving, he put on facial makeup, lipstick, rouge, and eyeliner. He also put on panty hose and a pair of woman’s tan high-heeled boots.

He decided to drive along Bayshore Drive because he thought he might see a potential victim walking, jogging, or riding a bike in the vicinity. He stated he saw a woman driving a car in the area. He followed her to see if he would have an opportunity to sexually assault her. He followed her for several miles before he talked himself out of sexually assaulting her.

He drove back to the city and the urge to sexually assault returned. While driving near a park, he saw a lone female jogging and he decided to sexually assault her. He followed her for nearly half an hour and the opportunity never presented itself to attack the jogger. He again talked himself out of following through with the attack.

He began to have thoughts of sexually assaulting a female employee he had seen on an earlier date at a small restaurant. It was after midnight when he decided to go to the restaurant and sexually assault the woman if the opportunity presented itself. He stated he planned to force the woman into his car, drive to a desolate area, sexually assault her, and then leave her there.

He drove to the restaurant. He could see the woman was indeed working and she appeared to be alone. There was only one other car in the area and he assumed it belonged to the woman.

He parked his car and retrieved a crescent wrench from under the seat of his car, putting it in his left coat pocket. He said he planned on striking the woman if she resisted him during the attack. He waited for the woman to exit the restaurant. While waiting, he locked her car doors to prevent her from entering her car.

When the woman exited the restaurant, the man walked up from behind her and grabbed her by the back of the neck. The woman quickly turned around, grabbed the man’s collar, and said, “My husband will track you down. Unless you want my money, which I don’t have, I suggest you get out of here.”

The man let go of the woman, got into his car, and drove home.

The man was incarcerated. He had given officers permission to search his car and home. At the man’s residence officers found and siezed a large pair of woman’s tan high-heeled boots and a jacket with an 8” crescent wrench in the left front pocket.

On October 11, 1994 the man pleaded no contest to attempted kidnapping and attempted sexual assault. He was sentenced to state prison for 10 years.

The man was ultimately released from prison in 2005, after being placed on extended supervision (probation). The man violated conditions of his probation by wearing woman’s clothes and make-up. He was re-incarcerated. It was determined that the man is a sexually violent predator and he was remanded to be incarcerated for an undetermined amount of time.