Pictured on Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007, is the mobile home, left, and tool shed at Big Creek, ...

Details Emerge in W. Va. Torture Case

By JOHN RABY, Associated Press Writer

3 hours ago

BIG CREEK, W.Va. - Inside a shed on a remote hillside of this coalfield community, authorities say a young black woman was tortured for days, sexually assaulted, beaten and forced to eat rat droppings.

If she wanted water, she had to drink from the toilet.

Her captors, all of them white, choked her with a cable cord, poured hot water over her and stabbed her in the leg while calling her a racial slur, according to criminal complaints. It wasn't until an anonymous tip led Logan County Sheriff's deputies to the property on Saturday that her ordeal ended and she was able to limp to safety, arms outstretched as she cried "help me!"

"I don't understand such a horrific crime being committed here," said Johnny Meade, pastor of the community's Apostolic Church of God in the Name of Christ Jesus.

The motive for such brutality still wasn't clear Wednesday, but authorities said they were investigating the case as a possible hate crime.

At one point, an assailant cut the woman's ankle with a knife and used the N-word in telling her she was victimized because she is black, authorities said. The FBI is looking into possible civil rights violations, agency spokesman Bill Crowley said.

Investigators are still trying to determine how the woman ended up at the property and whether she knew any of the six people arrested or the two others, suspected of driving her to the home, who are being sought, said Logan County Chief Sheriff's Deputy V.K. Dingess.

Police tape now surrounds the entrances to the beige-and-brown mobile home where Megan Williams, 20, was found. An extension cord runs from the home to the cramped shed, which authorities say she was held with a portable stereo, a locker and a power saw.

The Associated Press generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual assault, but Williams and her mother agreed to release her name.

"I don't understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter," her mother, Carmen Williams, said Tuesday from her daughter's hospital room. "I didn't know there were people like that out here."

The owner of the mobile home, Frankie Brewster, 49, was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and giving false information during a felony investigation in connection with Williams' case.

She had been released from prison in September 2000 after serving five years for manslaughter and wanton endangerment in the death of 84-year-old Polly Ferrell, according to court records.

Brewster's son, Bobby R. Brewster, 24, also of Big Creek, is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and assault during the commission of a felony.

Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts, is charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding.

Karen Burton, 46, of Chapmanville, is charged with malicious wounding, battery and assault during the commission of a felony. Her daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, of Chapmanville, and George A. Messer, 27, of Chapmanville, are charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery.

In May, Alisha Burton was accused of striking Messer with a shovel and smashing the window of another woman's car. Burton was charged with domestic assault and battery and destruction of property, court records showed. Those charges are pending.

All six remained in custody Tuesday in lieu of $100,000 bail each, and all have asked for court-appointed attorneys.

The home is now quiet. Newborn pups sleep in the entryway to the small shed, their mother protectively barking at approaching strangers. The puppies have a blanket. Megan Williams apparently never did.

Megan Williams' right arm is now in a cast, but may be well enough to leave the hospital within a few days, her mother said.

"I just want my daughter to be well and recover," Carmen Williams said. "I know the Lord can do anything."