Women testify about terror of home attacks
BILLINGS (AP) — Three Billings women who were attacked in their homes last year testified about their ordeals at the rape, kidnapping and robbery trial of Toby Griego.
All three women testified that they were awakened by a man in their bedroom.
The first woman said she was repeatedly raped and repeatedly forced to bathe during a two-hour assault early on Jan. 27, 2013.
“I woke up to a hand over my mouth, a knife to my throat and someone telling me not to scream,” the first woman testified Tuesday.
She said when she tried to get away, her attacker hit her in the head.
The second woman said her attacker bound her and tried to rape her on April 25. She said when she fought back, he gouged her eyes and punched her in the face, but he left when she screamed at him.
All three women testified that pictures recovered from Griego’s cellphone were taken at their residences during the attack.
Defense attorneys argued that the women didn’t get a good look at their attacker, raising doubts that Griego was responsible.
The trial continued Wednesday with testimony from a woman who reported being raped by an intruder on May 27.
“I remember waking up screaming, and there was a Taser to the back of my neck,” she testified.
She said her attacker found her gun and pressed it against her back and later forced her to quickly drink a bottle of wine, along with some rum and vodka. She believed she was hit in the head four or five times and said she vomited as he raped her.
She said she offered him money and he took her to an ATM. She said she tried to run and he tackled her and put her back in the vehicle, drove her back to her residence and raped her again. She said he forced her to shower and threatened to go to her hometown, which he named, and kill her family and her friends if she told anyone.
Griego, 42, is charged with 27 counts in a string of home-invasion robberies, sexual assaults, kidnappings and attempted sexual assault. Prosecutors say he stalked the women who were attacked.