CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina man accused of arranging his wife’s rape on Craigslist watched as she pushed a knife away from her attacker, then told her to shower afterward to destroy evidence, according to a police document released today.
The application for a search warrant says the woman knocked the knife off the bed as she was being raped, and it landed near her husband. He only continued to watch, according to the warrant.
The husband faces charges including first-degree rape, and is still in jail on $200,000 bond at the Cabarrus County Detention Center. The Associated Press does not generally identify victims of sexual assault and is not naming the man to avoid identifying his wife.
Kannapolis Deputy Chief Maj. Terry Clanton said police were still searching for the attacker. The document said police were looking to seize a computer, cell phone, and all electronic devices capable of storing or transporting digital media.
It also discloses more details of the case, which experts said is likely to lead to more questions for Craigslist, the popular online classified service under scrutiny for sexually explicit ads.
The company agreed to do away with the erotic services section last month after a Boston medical student dubbed “the Craigslist killer” was charged in the death of a woman who offered erotic massage through the site. The company has pledged to screen submissions to a new “adult services” section before posting them.
Police said the husband used Craigslist to find an attacker. Investigators could not say which section the ads the husband responded to were in.
The husband was next to his wife in bed when the attacker came into their upstairs bedroom. He threatened her and demanded $3,000. Then, the suspect forced her to disrobe and perform oral sex on him. Then he began raping her. During the attack, the suspect put his knife on the bed. She was able to throw it toward her husband, but he did nothing to stop the attack.
Afterward, the suspect made her go into the bathroom and wait until he left the house. She said her husband told her to take a shower and not to call police.
Investigators said the woman told them that her husband’s sexual fantasy “is having sex with her and another male.” She told police she checked her husband’s e-mails in the past and found “e-mail communication where he was requesting someone to please her.” It’s unclear whether those requests were sent to Craigslist.
Records show the husband pleaded guilty to indecent exposure for exposing himself last year to a pizza delivery woman in Virginia and received a 30-day suspended sentence.
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