Alleged Kidnapping Victim, Daughter Testify at Trial
Posted
Craig Brosman-
The second day of the Bill E. Warren jury trial included testimony from the victim and her daughter.
The victim, 28-year-old Kassondra Weathers, took the stand early Wednesday morning to talk about the day Warren allegedly abducted her and her daughter.
At the end of day one of the trial, Weathers had reached the point in her testimony where she was on her way to meet Warren at the intersection of Ind. 13 and Ind. 14. Both Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton and Weathers wasted no time Wednesday getting back into the testimony.
Weathers said she met Warren at the intersection because Warren wanted to talk about something urgent. When she arrived, Warren got in her car and told her he had a job for both of them that they could start soon. Weathers told the jury that she couldn’t believe that Warren called her out for something like that and told him that she needed to be somewhere.
“He pulls out a knife out of his pocket and puts it to my throat and said ‘drive the (expletive) car or I will slit your (expletive) throat,’” Weathers said.
Weathers said she attempted to get away multiple times but Warren thrwarted each attempt. At one point Weathers attempted to wave down a passing car, but could not get the driver’s attention.
“In my mind I was defeated and there was no way we were ever going to get help,” Weathers said.
Eventually, Warren allegedly became fed up with it and put Weathers some place she wouldn’t bother him.
“Later he put the knife up to my stomach and said, ‘now I said drive the (expletive) car.’ I put the car in drive and peeled out,” Weathers said. “I got to the intersection and said no and turned back around … he took me and my daughter and put us in the trunk before leaving the intersection.”
Weathers followed the story that Hampton had told in his opening statements on day one. She testified that after she was put in the trunk, she was then taken to the path in the woods near Liberty Mills. She was let out and handcuffed to a tree.
Weathers then found out that Warren was using her phone to send a series of texts to himself and other contacts in her phone, in an attempt to create an alibi, she said.
Weathers then said that Warren forced her to take her clothes off, and he began to touch her.
“The reason why he’s so scary is because of the glazed look in his eyes. He looks like some kind of demon,” Weathers said. “He started rubbing my breast and he acted like he was in some sort of fantasy, like I was so hot.”
After being fondled, touched and scared for much of the night, Weathers said she made it until daylight.
“It’s been a long time and it’s getting to be daylight. I told him he’s going to get caught if someone drives by. I am trying to get him to trust me so he will let us go. ‘You can trust me if you let us go. I won’t tell anyone,’” Weathers said.
In the morning, Warren allegedly had Weathers drive the vehicle. Weathers believed she was going to take Warren back to his car, but Warren instead made her take him to his mother’s house in North Manchester.
Weathers alleged that Warren locked her and her daughter in his room and they slept. Later that day, Warren had her drive him back to his vehicle.
“On the way there we got about a little ways past the Liberty Mills sign. He said ‘I lied, I’m sorry I’m not letting you go. Turn around and go back to Liberty Mills,’” Weathers said. “I pull up alongside a car and try to get them to notice me but they don’t look.”
Eventually, Weathers makes it back to Warren’s vehicle and she forces him out of her vehicle.
“As soon as he barely got the door closed, I peeled out of there like a maniac and went toward (a friend’s) house in Sidney,” Weathers said.
Warren followed Weathers to Sidney, but as soon as she pulled into her friend’s driveway, he drove off toward Warsaw. At that time Weathers called 911.
Earlier in Weathers’ testimony, she had said she took a muscle relaxer and Vicodin after her first interview with the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department. On cross examination, Alan J. Zimmerman asked her about the drugs.
“You knew it was a controlled substance. You took it anyways,” Zimmerman said. “The next day on the tape you had admitted to detective (Josh) Spangle that you had used methamphetamine, weed and illegal pills recently.”
Weathers told Zimmerman, “Yes and no. I had admitted that I took a muscle relaxer and a Vicodin. I did not admit I had taken meth on the 29th or 30th.”
Zimmerman clarified his question and said, “I was referring before the 29th.”
Weathers answered, “Yes.”
Zimmerman then asked Weathers about an old job she had.
“You were forced to take your clothes off. Isn’t it true that you professionally took your clothes off? You are what people would call a stripper,” Zimmerman said.
Weathers confirmed she had previously been a stripper, but she quit after three or four months because of how the men treated her.
During his cross examination, Zimmerman asked Weathers why she went to see Warren one night after she had seen a scary side of Warren that she had not seen before. Zimmerman categorized the incident as one that Weathers did not tell anyone about and Weathers agreed.
“Now the next day, Aug. 29, after he said these things to you, in a mean voice. Made you cry and frightened you. Am I to understand you met with this man within 24 hours of that incident?” Zimmerman said.
Weathers told Zimmerman that she came because she thought something serious had happened to Warren and she was trying to be a good friend to him.
Once Zimmerman entered multiple photos of the alleged crime scene and Weathers’ vehicle into evidence, he asked Weathers if after the incident she took her or her daughter to get medical care. Weathers said no.
Weathers was on the stand for seven hours. Hampton next called her young daughter to testify.
In the short time the girl was on the stand, assistant prosecutor Karen McGrath attempted to see if she could articulate the difference between a truth and a lie. The girl could not and she was not able to testify. Instead of her in-person testimony, the court allowed a video interview with her to be accepted as evidence in the case.
After her testimony, Hampton called Assistant Director of 911 Dispatch Sarah Lancaster to the stand. Lancaster described the 911 call that had come into the dispatch center at a little after noon Aug. 30, 2010. Hampton played the recording for the jury after entering it into evidence.
Hampton then called to the stand Charlene Johnson, the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department detective who initially interviewed Weathers. Johnson went over when the interview started and who was on the tape.
Hampton then admitted the video testimonies of Weathers and her daughter into evidence and played both for the jury.
Hampton and Zimmerman will call their final witnesses on the third day of the trial. It was originally set for three days, but the length of the trial so far has extended the final trial date to Friday.
