A man who gave two Lake Stevens teenagers a brutal and terrifying night Nov. 1 will pay for it with at least 30 years in prison.
Jeffrey Martin Winje, 34, pleaded guilty Friday in Snohomish County to two counts of first-degree rape and one count of first-degree kidnapping.
Judge Thomas Wynne set sentencing for March 27.
Deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson said he will ask for the high end of the sentencing range, about 34 years behind bars. Public defender Kathleen Kyle said she will argue for about a 30-year sentence, about the middle of the sentencing range.
For each of the counts, Wynne asked Winje his plea.
After hesitation, Winje said “guilty” in a halting voice to each charge.
A 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl attended a Halloween party at Winje’s house in the 11200 block of S. Lake Stevens Road Oct. 31. It is also the home of the defendant’s half-brother, a high school student, according to court documents. The two teens fell asleep on a couch and woke to find Winje assaulting them.
The teens were held there for more than 10 hours. The boy was tied to a chair most of the time and the girl was repeatedly raped, punched and threatened with a knife, Matheson said.
She also was tied to a chair between assaults, documents said. Winje continued to drink heavily during the ordeal.
Winje began cutting his own wrists, at first superficially and then deeper, Matheson said. Besides threatening the teens with death, he talked about committing suicide, Matheson said.
The young people were rescued after classmates noticed they weren’t in school the next day. Friends drove past Winje’s house and saw the girl’s car still in the driveway. One of her friends used a ladder to enter the home’s second story and saw Winje and the boy still tied up, Matheson said.
Sheriff’s deputies surrounded the home, and a hostage negotiator made contact with Winje. He let the teens go an hour later, and he eventually surrendered.
Winje was convicted in 1994 of assault for striking a sleeping man in the head with an ax, and he was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison then. He also had been drinking before the 1994 assault, Matheson said.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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