Asheville man found guilty in 'unusual' rape trial, sentenced to prison

ASHEVILLE — After nearly a week of deliberation, a jury has found a former Asheville man guilty of first-degree rape and felony assault inflicting serious bodily injury in Buncombe County Superior Court Nov. 13.

Judge David Strickland sentenced William Todd Murell, 58, to serve an active sentence of 240-348 months for first-degree rape, plus 14-26 months for felony assault inflicting serious bodily injury, for a combined active sentence of at least 21 years in prison, according to District Attorney Todd Williams.

Once released, Murell must register as a sex offender, comply with satellite-based monitoring and have no contact with the victim for the rest of his life, Williams said in a news release.

Murell was also facing a charge of first-degree kidnapping, which the jury acquitted him of, according to Williams.

"The victim spoke at sentencing and requested that Judge Strickland consider that Murell sentenced her to a life of recovery from the trauma he inflicted," Williams said in the release. "She asked Judge Strickland to impose the maximum sentence allowed."

Murell also spoke at sentencing, saying he was "shocked but accepted the court's decision," according to Williams.

This trial unfolded unlike most, with the jury taking a three-week hiatus from the case after evidence was presented due to the presiding judge going on vacation and a week-long judicial conference. After the trial began Sept. 28, the court took its break starting Oct. 13 and reconvened for closing arguments and deliberation Nov. 6.

Previous reporting: Jury struggles on verdict in lengthy trial of 2020 Asheville rape, kidnap case

Williams told the Citizen Times it’s “pretty unusual” for a trial to be heard in this manner, saying “the jury was out (deliberating) for a week, but they also didn’t just sit through two weeks of exhibits and testimony and then immediately get the case. They sat through the exhibits, testimony and the presentation of evidence and then were gone for three weeks.”

During the week of deliberation, the jury asked to see numerous exhibits, or pieces of evidence in the trial, including police bodycam footage, 911 Computer Aided Dispatch reports, images of the victim’s injuries, and a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner report.

The jury even sent notes to Strickland twice, indicating that they were unable to reach a unanimous decision. For example, around 11:40 on Nov. 9, about 11 hours into deliberation, the jury wrote a note to Strickland saying they reached a unanimous decision on one of the charges but were still split on the other two.

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“Even though we might have to spend more time at your command … we will never agree,” Strickland read to the court.

“I would thank the jurors of their conscientious review of the evidence and consideration of all the facts and circumstances presented by the state,” Williams told the Citizen Times. “After that break, it seemed like they wanted to see a lot of the evidence.”

Murell was arrested on Feb. 19, 2020, then again on March 10, 2020, and charged with first-degree forcible rape, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sex offense and assault inflicting serious bodily injury, according to a previous Asheville Police Department news release.

"The offenses were first reported to APD on Feb.11, 2020, after the victim was removed from Murell's residence by friends and family and treated at Pardee Hospital," Williams said in a news release.

APD had responded to the home for several welfare checks over the 10 days prior to the victim's admission to the hospital, where it was discovered that she was suffering brain hemorrhaging, or brain bleeding, and a midline shift of her temporal lobe. Her provider at the hospital testified in court Oct. 5 that this condition could be fatal. Toxicology also showed the presence of barbiturates and benzodiazepines, according to court proceedings.

When the woman accused Murell of raping her during those 10 days, Murell allegedly pulled her off the couch by her ankle, causing her to hit her head on a coffee table, Kurdys said during court proceedings Nov. 6. Murell confessed to the wife of the victim’s ex-husband that he had done this, saying he “lost it on her,” according to court documents.

Kurdys also stated that Murell stomped on the left side of the victim’s head, causing bruising on her forearms when she went to shield herself from him. Additionally, the woman claims that Murell dragged her down concrete steps, dragged her across carpet to an area of his house he called the “punishment corner,” held a knife to her throat, burned her back with cigarettes, and made her sit naked in a mud puddle in his backyard while he smoked a cigarette, Kurdys said.

Initial reporting: Police charge Asheville man with rape, sex offense, kidnapping

Court records suggest there’s evidence of two alleged victims, but due to Strickland’s order not to combine the cases in response to pre-trial motions, the jury has not seen that evidence and has only heard testimony from one female victim.

The judge decided not to combine the cases because "the court cannot find that these two incidents constituted 'a series of acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a single scheme or plan,'" Strickland said in an email to the attorneys on the case.

When asked if Murell will still stand trial for his remaining charges of first-degree kidnapping and first-degree sex offense against a potential second victim, Williams said, “I’ll decline comment on that right now.”

The Citizen Times reached out to Murell's defense attorney, Al Messer, but he was unavailable for comment before press time.

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville man found guilty of rape, inflicting serious bodily injury