"I have been thinking about this every single day of my life for the past four years."
That's what the victim of a 2005 rape and assault told a jury during her testimony Wednesday morning in Kosciusko Superior Court I.
Shawn Lester Hattery, 30, is accused of 17 felony counts, including burglary, battery, rape, criminal confinement, criminal deviate sexual conduct, attempted deviate sexual conduct, sexual battery, obstruction of justice and theft.During more than two hours on the stand, the victim told the jury about the attack and the events that followed on Oct. 5, 2005.
The victim said Oct. 4, 2005, was a normal day: she went to work, went home to Orchard Ridge Apartments, talked with her mom and her boyfriend and went to bed around 10:30 or 11 p.m.
What happened after that was anything but normal. She awoke sometime later on her back with a large man on top of her, straddling her.
"He said, don't fight it, don't fight it. I'm just here to take a few things," the victim said.
She said he asked her where the cash was and then told her he was going to duct tape her mouth so she couldn't call the police.
But, the victim said, the man did not just take "a few things." He used his size advantage to subdue her and rape her three times before leaving the apartment with her cellular telephone and her purse.
While she struggled and tried to get away, the man proceeded to duct tape her arms in front of her at the wrist, and then he used a knife to slice off her t-shirt.
"I knew he could easily kill me. That was my first thought," she said.
She said the man pulled her pants off and then wrapped his arm around her neck, choking her until she blacked out. When she came to, she was very confused and then he punched her in the right eye.
"It hurt really bad, worse than anything I ever felt before," she said.
He then wrapped several layers of duct tape around her head to cover her eyes, taped over her mouth and tied her feet to the footboard with a piece of clothing before spraying her back with perfume.
After making a vulgar comment, he raped her.
"The whole time I assumed he was going to kill me. I thought for sure I would die," she said.
When he was finished, she said she could hear him use a lighter and then she smelled cigarette smoke. She also heard him open a bottle of soda that was in her refrigerator.
"It seemed like he was making himself at home," she said.
The man did not stop there though.
He returned to the bedroom, untied her feet and flipped her over. He removed the tape from her wrists and put her hands behind her back, taping them again. He then folded her into a "C" shape and tied her feet to the bed over her head, so her thighs were on her stomach and chest.
"He was very hands-on this time," she said, explaining that he touched her, called her by name and even tried to kiss her before raping her again.
Once he was finished, he got up. Leaving the victim tied up on the bed, he went into her bathroom and turned on the shower.
She said the shower was on for a while and she heard splashing.
As she told the jury of the ordeal, she broke down, and started quietly weeping.
"This was never how I thought I was going to die," she said.
After the shower, the man returned to the room, untied her feet, turned her over and then tied her hands to the head board and feet to the footboard so she was on her stomach. Then he raped her again.
"He was very violent, throwing me around and doing what he wanted," she said. "He treated me like I wasn't even human."
When he finished, he wiped her down, covered her with a blanket and left her tied to the bed.
"It felt like I was there for hours," she said.
She listened to see if she could hear him leave. While she didn't hear a door, she waited a while and then worked to get her right hand untied. Once that hand was free, she untied the rest of the restraints, pushed the duct tape up from her eyes onto her forehead and grabbed the first pieces of clothing she could find.
She carefully went out into the hallway, and then to the kitchen, where she discovered that her purse and cellular telephone were gone, but her car keys were there. She grabbed the keys and a kitchen knife and ran to the car, shoeless and disheveled.
It was then that she got her first glimpse of herself.
"It was shocking," she said, adding that her right eye was swollen shut, blood was coming out of her nose, her complexion was speckled and the duct tape was still on her head.
She sped to the hospital, disregarding traffic lights, praying that a police officer would pull her over so she could report the attack.
When she got to the hospital around 2 a.m., a rape kit was performed, and the police were called.
Around 7 a.m., she was taken to the Warsaw Police Department, where she told Detective Tony Faucett what had happened.
After taking a break for lunch, the jury heard testimony from Kosciusko County Jailer Refugio Ramirez, who confirmed that a booking photo presented was Hattery; Rebecca Miller, the nurse who cared for the victim at the hospital and performed the rape kit; Jessica Haney, the nurse who assisted Miller with the rape kit; Brian Roberts, the first officer who responded to the call at the hospital; Brian Sherwin, the officer who transported the rape kit to the Indiana State Police Lab in Fort Wayne; and Tony Faucett, who was the lead detective in the investigation.
Miller explained the procedure for completing a rape kit and explained how samples are gathered for the investigation and testing. She also described the victim's appearance when she arrived at the hospital.
"I don't think I've ever seen a girl so scared in my life," Miller said.
Roberts explained that he went to the hospital, and once he learned that the victim was not sure the attacker was gone, he went to the apartment to investigate. Roberts, then-detective Joe Stanley and Sgt. Bob Long went to the apartment, took photos and gathered evidence, which was then taken to the Warsaw Police Department.
The trial reconvened at 8:30 a.m. today, with Faucett returning to the stand for more questioning.
