Victim takes stand in case of alleged Calgary kidnappings, sexual assaults
Posted Jan 22, 2024 2:05 pm.
Last Updated Jan 22, 2024 3:15 pm.
Monday was an emotional day of testimony at the Calgary Courthouse, as one of Richard Mantha’s alleged victims took the stand.
Mantha plead not guilty to 20 charges that include kidnapping, threats causing bodily harm, sexual assault with a weapon, and administering a noxious substance.
“I thought I was going to die in that field.”
Those words from one of Mantha’s alleged victims who took the stand Monday, describing the moment she fled into a farmer’s field after the alleged assault.
She was asked by the prosecution if she recognized each photograph.
Clutching the leash of a victim services dog, she at one point broke down in tears, saying “I didn’t know the pictures would upset me so much.”
During cross examination, the defense questions the victim’s memory, claiming it was impaired by drug use and the passage of time.
During cross examination, defense lawyer Andre Ouellette took issue with the victim’s memory and argued that drug use impacted it.
He asked the victim if she remembered telling police in her statement that her brain was “so scrambled.”
The woman, who can’t be identified due to a publication ban, was shown a series of photographs of the rural property near Chestermere where Mantha lived.
She said she didn’t recall saying that.
The defense then pointed to a statement she gave officers when asked about her phone.
She then said her brain was “scrambled” because of the drugs she had taken and the ones that were given to her by Mantha.
The victim testified she had used crack cocaine and other drugs off and on for over 20 years.
She also told the court she used crack the day the alleged incident happened.
The woman told the court Monday she went with Mantha to the property after he offered her construction work.
The court heard she went into the trailer to plug her phone in, and that’s when Mantha allegedly tried to take her pants off.
The woman was asked further about whether or not she took off her boots when she entered the trailer where the assault allegedly happened.
To which she said, “Can I ask you a question? Do you know how easy it is for someone to have that impact on you and put that permanently in your life forever? It’s something I don’t have any trouble recalling, thank you.”
She was trying to leave the sex trade when the assault allegedly happened.
The victim is one of seven women who have accused Mantha of sexual assault.
