Whisper
#byefelicia
Walker Wayne Shepland
Thomas Allon Simon
Charlotte Arms
http://www.kens5.com/news/crime/Thr...-aggravated-kidnapping-assault-249578891.html- Three people have been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and assault of a Burnet woman.
According to Burnet police, a two-month investigation revealed that an adult female was held against her will at a Burnet home and repeatedly assaulted for up to a year. Police have not released the woman's name.
Police arrested 45-year-old Charlotte Elaine Arms, 31-year-old Thomas Allon Simon and 24-year-old Walker Wayne Shepland. Police said they suspect Arms spearheaded the assaults, telling Simon and Shepland to beat the woman. Police say the three suspects did not allow the woman to leave the residence and beat her repeatedly for attempting to leave.
Affidavits describe alleged abuse, ‘water boarding’ in Burnet case
http://www.dailytrib.com/2014/03/11...-three-year-long-assault-woman/#ixzz2vnnP3dGXThe alleged victim of multiple assaults at the hands of two people with whom she lived described numerous beatings and even “water boarding” during the ordeal,
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Burnet police arrested two people March 12 in connection with allegedly keeping a woman confined to a residence
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against her will and beating her several times. Officers arrested a third man for allegedly abusing his wife, whose Jan. 28 death triggered the investigation that led to the revelation of the alleged kidnapping and abuse.
Police charged Charlotte Elaine Arms, 45, and Walker Wayne Shapland, 24, with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault with of a weapon of a family/household member. The charges revolve around keeping a 26-year-old woman against her will in the residence and beating her several times.
During one incident, the victim claimed one of the suspects tied her to a table in June 2013, placed a rag in her mouth and put a towel over her head and poured water over her face while questioning her about her actions, according to the affidavit.
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According to the affidavit, the victim said the man called this “water boarding.”
The woman, who is now in a women’s shelter along with her children, told Burnet investigators of her alleged plight after an investigation into her sister’s death at the same residence
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On Jan. 28, police responded to the North Pierce residence after somebody reported a woman’s death. The dead woman was identified as 29-year-old Rebecca Schaller. During the initial investigation, officers noted several injuries to the body including two-thirds of her face suffering burns.
During a follow-up inquiry into Schaller’s death, investigators noted no real sense of loss or remorse from the eight adults and six children sharing the home,
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According to an arrest warrant affidavit for a third man, Thomas Allon Simon, 31, the deceased woman’s husband, an autopsy revealed Schaller’s body had multiple injuries and suffered a “severe infection.”
During a follow-up with Simon, investigators believe the husband struck Schaller causing several injuries. He was arrested and charged with aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.
The exact cause of Schaller’s death was still under investigation.
But as investigators continued to look into Schaller’s death, they began to piece things together, both from what they were told and what was missing.
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officers noted several people provided written statements regarding Schaller’s death, but several people hadn’t including Arms and the alleged kidnapping victim.
Investigators reached out to a Child Protective Service investigator to get information about Schaller’s sister and, if possible, get her out of the house so they could speak with her. On March 6, a confidential informant told investigators Schaller and her sister were Arms’ nieces by marriage and the informant had witnessed the woman abuse the two sisters and instruct others to abuse them as well, according to the affidavit.
On March 10, officers were able to get the alleged victim out of the house, and she then confirmed the confidential informant’s information. She also went on to describe several other alleged assaults beyond the water boarding including a time between Oct. 31, 2013, and Nov. 5, 2013, when the two kidnapping suspects tied her to a bed and beat her with a wooden paddle and a leather belt, the affidavit stated.
“(The victim) stated that the beating lasted approximately two hours,”
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The woman even outlined several alleged abuse incidents just days before police got her out of the house, the affidavit stated.
“(The victim) admitted to us that Charlotte Arms has been abusing her for the past two years on an almost daily basis,” Hicks stated in the affidavit. “(The victim) refuses to leave the home because Charlotte has convinced her that (her) children will be taken away from her and Charlotte will make sure that (she) is deemed unfit.”
All three suspects were booked into the Burnet County Jail. Arms and Shapland face first-degree felony charges, punishable by up to 99 years in prison. Simon faces a second-degree felony charge, punishable by up to 20 years in prison.