Deal Saver - brought to you by the Charlotte Observer

0 comments
  • Print
  • Reprint or License
  • Share Share

Officer, elderly woman testify in rape trial

By Gary L. Wright
gwright@charlotteobserver.com

An 83-year-old rape victim said her attacker threatened to kill her, a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer testified Thursday.

Officer Adelaide Dimmitt recalled the victim saying that the attacker told her if she didn't have sex with him, "he'd kill me."

Robert Lamar McFadden, 18, is on trial, accused of raping the elderly woman in May 2010. McFadden, who was 16 at the time, also faces kidnapping, breaking and entering, and larceny charges.

Kellie O'Hara, a family nurse practitioner at Presbyterian Hospital on the night of the sexual attack, testified that the rape victim told her she began fighting back after her assailant pulled her from the bed and dragged her to the floor.

The nurse recalled the rape victim telling her that her attacker had sex with her multiple times and was wearing a condom.

The woman, who has since turned 84, testified Wednesday and twice pointed to McFadden as the person who came into her north Charlotte home and raped her.

"He raped me, and he almost took my life," she told jurors. "Smothered me down with a pillow."

In earlier testimony, jurors heard the 911 call made by a relative, who said she found the victim partially dressed and on the floor of her bedroom. The caller also said she saw a condom wrapper in the covers that were on the floor.

That relative recalled their conversation: "I said why are you laying here with no clothes on? She kept rambling about something I couldn't understand, and then she said the (expletive) raped me two times. He had sex with me two times."

The next day, police received a call about a break-in in progress in the same community. Officers called in the police helicopter and search dogs, and McFadden was arrested after a short foot chase.

The rape and kidnapping charges that McFadden is on trial for are each punishable by three years to 19 years in prison, depending on the defendant's criminal record.

On Thursday, Superior Court Judge Timothy Kincaid allowed prosecutors to introduce evidence about another crime involving an elderly woman that McFadden is suspected of committing. Prosecutors are using the evidence to show McFadden's identity, motive and intent.

A 74-year-old woman told the jurors that in March 2010 she was working in her yard when a young man approached and asked her if he could use her phone. After using the phone, he asked if he could use her bathroom.

The woman said she took him to the bathroom on the back porch. "When I went to turn around, he grabbed me," she recalled. "We tussled."

The young man, she said, then left.

The woman identified McFadden on Thursday as her attacker. One of the woman's daughters told jurors that a folder was found on the freezer next to the bathroom after the attacker left. One of the papers inside the folder was a job interview invitation for Robert McFadden.

Defense attorney Chiege Okwara, while cross-examining the woman, pointed out that the man had not touched her inappropriately or tried to have sex with her. She also reminded the woman that she was unable to pick McFadden out of a police photo lineup.

"I still know who he is," the woman said. "I recognize that face."


Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK

The Charlotte Observer welcomes your comments on news of the day. The more voices engaged in conversation, the better for us all, but do keep it civil. Please refrain from profanity, obscenity, spam, name-calling or attacking others for their views.   Read more

Quick Job Search
Salary Databases