The first day of trial began Wednesday for a 60-year-old Waynesville man accused of multiple offenses in connection with alleged sex crimes committed against a 23-year-old military wife and resident of Fort Leonard Wood.
Arrested in July 2008 and charged with two counts of forcible rape, two counts of forcible sodomy, armed criminal action and felonious restraint, David H. Lee appeared in the Phelps County Courthouse for his trial on a change of venue from Pulaski County.
Opening statements by Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Deborah Hooper and Assistant Public Defender Thomas Florek left jurors with little doubt as to the direction the trial would take.
Hooper described a harrowing and exacting account of an 18-hour ordeal suffered by the young wife of a soldier who was serving in Iraq at the time of the alleged crimes.
Florek refuted the charges against Lee and said, while the evidence would show the defendant and alleged victim had sex, it was consensual. The victim, he said, cried rape as an expedient mechanism to bring her husband home from Iraq.
Taking the stand as the state’s first witness, the alleged victim explained she had worked for Lee for approximately two weeks before the attack occurred. As a part-time job, she said, she mowed his grass, ran errands and cleaned his house for him. Financial problems precipitated the search for the job, she said.
In a sometimes highly emotional recounting of the attacks she said occurred, the victim said Lee held a gun to her neck, raped and sodomized her two times during an 18-hour period period when she was held against her will. At one point, she claimed, she ran from his home but was caught by Lee and dragged back into the house.
According to the woman, Lee threatened to kill her, place her body in a body bag and sink it in the Gasconade River, unless he could be assured she wouldn’t report him to the police.
During cross examination, the woman admitted accompanying Lee to a store to purchase cigarettes sometime in between the attacks but explained she did not call for help from the store attendant because she was frightened.
Eighteen hours later, Lee allowed her to leave his residence, she said, after he became convinced she would not report him to the police.
When asked why she didn’t immediately go to a hospital after the attacks, she answered that at the time, she only wanted to make it home to her young children.
Shortly later, after she called her father-in-law and told him about the attacks, he contacted local law enforcement officials, who drove her to Lee’s residence, which she identified and then immediately transported her to the hospital at Fort Leonard Wood, she said.
Several photographs of the injuries sustained by the woman were admitted into evidence.
Florek, during a cross examination, said reports from a social worker at the hospital indicated that the woman only cried when she mentioned the need to speak with her husband. She also told the social worker she wanted her husband back home and wanted the Red Cross to immediately contact her husband, he said.
“I went to the hospital because I was raped, not because my husband wanted to come home,” she said. “No, I didn’t make-up the rape so my husband could come home.
“I wanted my husband home after the rape because I needed him there — I had no one.”
Florek also cited conflicting statements made by the alleged victim during the investigation and her subsequent deposition.
Hooper told jurors they would hear testimony throughout the trial from several investigators who collected evidence of the crime.
The trial is expected to last through Thursday and possibly into today.
Presiding at the trial, Circuit Judge Tracy L. Storie told jurors before opening statements were made, they were to determine the facts only from the evidence presented during the trial. He reminded jurors, opening statements were not to be considered evidence, and jurors could determine for themselves the believability of witnesses.
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The first day of trial began Wednesday for a 60-year-old Waynesville man accused of multiple offenses in connection with alleged sex crimes committed against a 23-year-old military wife and resident of Fort Leonard Wood.
Arrested in July 2008 and charged with two counts of forcible rape, two counts of forcible sodomy, armed criminal action and felonious restraint, David H. Lee appeared in the Phelps County Courthouse for his trial on a change of venue from Pulaski County.
Opening statements by Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Deborah Hooper and Assistant Public Defender Thomas Florek left jurors with little doubt as to the direction the trial would take.
Hooper described a harrowing and exacting account of an 18-hour ordeal suffered by the young wife of a soldier who was serving in Iraq at the time of the alleged crimes.
Florek refuted the charges against Lee and said, while the evidence would show the defendant and alleged victim had sex, it was consensual. The victim, he said, cried rape as an expedient mechanism to bring her husband home from Iraq.
Taking the stand as the state’s first witness, the alleged victim explained she had worked for Lee for approximately two weeks before the attack occurred. As a part-time job, she said, she mowed his grass, ran errands and cleaned his house for him. Financial problems precipitated the search for the job, she said.
In a sometimes highly emotional recounting of the attacks she said occurred, the victim said Lee held a gun to her neck, raped and sodomized her two times during an 18-hour period period when she was held against her will. At one point, she claimed, she ran from his home but was caught by Lee and dragged back into the house.
According to the woman, Lee threatened to kill her, place her body in a body bag and sink it in the Gasconade River, unless he could be assured she wouldn’t report him to the police.
During cross examination, the woman admitted accompanying Lee to a store to purchase cigarettes sometime in between the attacks but explained she did not call for help from the store attendant because she was frightened.
Eighteen hours later, Lee allowed her to leave his residence, she said, after he became convinced she would not report him to the police.
When asked why she didn’t immediately go to a hospital after the attacks, she answered that at the time, she only wanted to make it home to her young children.
Shortly later, after she called her father-in-law and told him about the attacks, he contacted local law enforcement officials, who drove her to Lee’s residence, which she identified and then immediately transported her to the hospital at Fort Leonard Wood, she said.
Several photographs of the injuries sustained by the woman were admitted into evidence.
Florek, during a cross examination, said reports from a social worker at the hospital indicated that the woman only cried when she mentioned the need to speak with her husband. She also told the social worker she wanted her husband back home and wanted the Red Cross to immediately contact her husband, he said.
“I went to the hospital because I was raped, not because my husband wanted to come home,” she said. “No, I didn’t make-up the rape so my husband could come home.
“I wanted my husband home after the rape because I needed him there — I had no one.”
Florek also cited conflicting statements made by the alleged victim during the investigation and her subsequent deposition.
Hooper told jurors they would hear testimony throughout the trial from several investigators who collected evidence of the crime.
The trial is expected to last through Thursday and possibly into today.
Presiding at the trial, Circuit Judge Tracy L. Storie told jurors before opening statements were made, they were to determine the facts only from the evidence presented during the trial. He reminded jurors, opening statements were not to be considered evidence, and jurors could determine for themselves the believability of witnesses.
