PERTH, N.Y. (AP) — A New York man and his girlfriend are accused of holding the man’s estranged wife captive for days and assaulting her, including cutting off one of her fingers, before she managed to escape.
The 37-year-old woman told police she was kidnapped at gunpoint by her husband on New Year’s Eve and physically and sexually assaulted, fearing for her life while being held at a home and at one point a motel room, according to court papers released Friday, The Times Union of Albany reported.
“Throughout the entire time I was with Justin, he was threatening to kill me and told me if I didn’t kill myself, he would kill me,” the woman told investigators, referring to her estranged husband, Justin Wilson, 31.
The Associated Press doesn’t identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly.
Wilson and Nicole Elmore, 35, both of Gloversville, were arraigned Friday on charges of kidnapping, assault and sexual assault. Wilson faces four charges and Elmore faces three, and other charges are pending against both, according to Wilson’s attorney Stephen Rockmacher. Both were being held at the Fulton County jail after pleading not guilty and are scheduled to appear in court Feb. 7, he said.
Rockmacher said he had only spoken briefly with Wilson, whom he has previously represented in criminal and family court matters. Rockmacher said he has not yet discussed the specifics of this case with his client.
“I’ve read the allegations. I hope they’re not true,” he said. “I’ve not yet discussed them with Mr. Wilson.”
A message was left seeking comment with Elmore’s attorney, Cristopher Savino.
Court papers said Wilson drove the woman, face down in back seat of an SUV, to his trailer in Perth, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of Albany, where she said she was brutalized for six days, including having her pinky finger amputated and the wound burned with a flame to stop the bleeding.
At one point, the woman said, Wilson and Elmore took her to a motel in nearby Amsterdam, where she said she was further assaulted, including Wilson trying to drown her in a hot tub.
The woman said she escaped nearly a week later after being left inside her estranged husband’s SUV while he went inside a home.
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