Accused Rapist Leo Bunker III Guilty on All Counts

Posted

Leo Bunker III, the inmate who was diagnosed with cancer while in jail and has cost Lewis County Jail nearly $200,000 in medical expenses, was found guilty of two counts of second-degree rape, one count of felony harassment and two counts of violation of a court order on Thursday afternoon. Bunker could face up to 19 years in prison for the crimes.

The jury returned its verdict after approximately four hours of deliberations.

During Thursday morning’s closing arguments, Bunker’s victim was painted as both a prisoner behind the proverbial walls of domestic violence and as an opportunistic liar.

 

According to Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Joely O’Rourke, her client was the victim of rape, torture and terror.

The abuse began in earnest on Oct. 11, 2011, when Bunker savagely raped her client, O’Rourke said. Bunker continued to rape the victim every day for the next 20 days, considering her his property — to be used however and whenever he pleased.

If the jury believed these facts — beyond a reasonable doubt — then they must put Bunker behind bars, O’Rourke said.

The prosecutor presented her case via a methodical review of the evidence.

She detailed for the jury how each piece of evidence corroborated her client’s testimony, and included the case’s disturbing elements — the defendant’s threat to skin the victim alive and have sex with her corpse, for example — only as they pertained to her legal arguments.

O’Rourke used statements from the woman’s family and friends to weave an emotional thread through her 40-minute PowerPoint presentation.

 

Abuse and rape are horrible, defense attorney Michael Underwood countered during his closing statement, but the accuser did not suffer either at the hands of Bunker.

Rather, Underwood claimed, the woman cried rape in order to exploit her then-husband.

Sending him to prison was the most convenient way to get what she wanted: Bunker’s BMW and refrigerator and a second-go at a relationship with ex-boyfriend Pete Pederson, Underwood said.

In a 45-minute narrative spoken directly to the jury, the defense attorney emphasized what he described as inconsistencies in the victim’s testimony.

“It’s kind of make it up as you go,” Underwood said about the woman’s statements.

Take, he pointed out as an example, the claim that Bunker was controlling. Why didn’t she ever take the opportunity — and there were several — to leave, Underwood asked.

As for Bunker’s statement that he would skin her and violate her dead body, the victim at first told police that Bunker had made that statement in jest. It was not until later that she said Bunker was serious about the threat, according to Underwood.

“Some people have a weird sense of humor,” he said about Bunker’s supposed joke.

With little physical evidence and no DNA, the jurors needed to rely primarily on witness’ testimony, and the alleged victim certainly was not a credible witness, Underwood said.

As such, he concluded, the jury should find his client innocent.

 

In her rebuttal, O’Rourke told the jury to question the veracity of Underwood’s statements.



“We like to call that smoke and mirrors,” O’Rourke said about Underwood’s arguments.

The prosecutor also urged the jury to consider just how closely her client’s behavior matched a typical pattern of domestic violence.

Bunker’s testimony that, due to erectile dysfunction, he would not have been able to rape the woman did not come up in either closing argument.

Throughout the proceedings, the defendant sat on the edge of his chair and wrung his hands. The victim was not present, reportedly due to an ongoing heart condition.

 

On Monday and Tuesday, the victim testified that she was too scared to leave Bunker.

On Oct. 11, 2011, Bunker was supposed to report to prison for violating an order of protection, the victim said from the witness stand. But the start of her then-husband’s incarceration was pushed back to November 1 and, instead of going into custody, Bunker returned to the victim’s Winlock house.

Later that day, Bunker found out the woman had called her ex-boyfriend, and he went into a rage, the woman testified.

Despite her best efforts, the woman was unable to fend off Bunker’s attack.

He threw the woman on the bed and told her, “Look you gave me a hard-on,” before ripping off her pants, she said. He proceeded to bite, strangle and rape her, leaving her with bruises on her arms, back and throat, she testified.

The defendant continued to rape and terrorize her, every day, for the next 20 days.

She reported the crimes to police on Nov. 4, 2011, three days after Bunker went into custody.

 

On Wednesday, domestic violence expert Peg Cain testified that it is not uncommon for victims of domestic violence to delay reporting the abuse.

Cain, who told the jury she had little knowledge of the facts of the case, said domestic violence tends to happen in waves: there is a build up to a violent event, then the violence stops. Soon the violence begins again — only more brutal than before.

“Over time, it becomes more compressed and it happens more frequently," she said.

The victim's daughter testified on Tuesday that after her mother started dating Bunker, she distanced herself from her family. She started acting reserved, more private and avoided her family, the daughter said.

“Many times, isolation is the hallmark of domestic violence," Cain told the jury Wednesday.

 

Bunker had awaited trial since April 2012.

His trial was delayed several times, for a variety of reasons: the judge previously assigned to the case took ill; the victim suffered a heart attack; the victim was trampled by a horse; and Bunker was diagnosed with throat cancer while in jail.

In the past seven months, Bunker has racked up nearly $200,000 in surgery and chemotherapy expenses. The six-figure bill will mostly come out of the jail’s budget.