Lawyer from hell kidnaps victim who owed him $60 and threatens to cut off his genitals with bolt cutters
A lawyer from Alabama orchestrated a kidnapping and threatened a hostage to cut off his finger and genitals with bolt cutters. According to prosecutors, the 'motive' of the kidnapper was, surprisingly, retrieving $60 from the victim in exchange for some tires that he had given him.
AL.com reported that 52-year-old former lawyer James William Woolley was sentenced to 20 years in prison for first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping, and attempted murder charges that he was convicted of last month.
The lawyer planned the kidnapping with an accomplice and their plot was implemented on January 25, 2016. According to prosecutors, 33-year-old Kimberly Murphy lured the victim to her Birmingham home, telling him that she had to return a piercing kit that he had left at her residence.
Once he was in the house, Murphy led the victim to the basement. There, as he walked down the stairs holding a flashlight, he saw two men wearing hazmat suits pointing a gun at him. He couldn't move, the AL.com reports.
They were Woolley and his 42-year-old male accomplice, Monique Roscoe. The victim was forced to continue down the stairs at gunpoint where he saw that the floor had been covered in plastic and there were tools strewn everywhere. Woolley then pushed the victim onto a sofa.
The Alabama Attorney General’s Office said that the pair struck the victim over the head with the blunt side of Machete while still holding him at gunpoint. They robbed him of his wallet, phone, and other personal items, all the while questioning him about the $60 he owed Woolley.
The pair then decided to kick the torture into overdrive, pulling out a pair of bolt cutters and asking the victim to pick a finger for them to cut off. According to reports, the victim told them that he had no idea about his debt.
Prosecutors further said that Woolley pressed the bolt cutters against the victim's genitals and asserted that he was going to cut off his penis, also telling him that “it was his last day on earth” and that they were going to kill him.
But a bolt from the blue turned the situation around when the pair got a phone call. Recognizing the lucky break, the victim ran for the stairs when he saw that the pair was distracted and quickly evaded them. When Roscoe fired his gun at him, the victim has already made it beyond the boundary walls. The stubborn Roscoe followed him outside and kept firing.
Prosecutors said that fortunately, none of the shots had hit the victim and that he was able to jump a fence and enter a neighbor's house, from where he would call the authorities.
AL.com reported defense lawyers representing Woolley argued in court that the victim's testimony was unreliable as he was "probably high" and conjured up the story. They further argued that Woolley had found himself in an unlucky situation.
"It's just like going to Cracker Barrel," defense attorney Lois Beasley-Carlisle said in court. "Someone comes in and does something, you aren't responsible for something that person does after you walk in."
Ultimately, after pleading guilty to first-degree robbery and second-degree attempted assault, Roscoe was sentenced to 20 years behind bars, split three years to serve, while Murphy faced lesser charges as she left after the victim had reached the basement. Prosecutors said that she pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery. Both the accomplices testified at the lawyer's trial.