Prison hostage takes stand
Officer describes ordeal Wassenaar devised
Michael Kiefer The Arizona Republic Apr. 15, 2005 12:00 AM

Fourteen months after being taken hostage in the nation's longest prison siege, the captive faced the captor in a courtroom on Thursday.

Lois Fraley wore a smile and her correctional officer's uniform. She spoke in law-enforcement jargon as she described her ordeal in graphic detail: About the sudden dread she felt when the watchtower's door buzzed open. About trying to fight off the stranger in an officer's uniform who burst up the stairs.

And, she said, about being sexually assaulted by that stranger and his cellmate. advertisement

"I'm a little nervous," she said early in her testimony in the trial of Ricky Wassenaar, who is defending himself in Maricopa County Superior Court against 20 counts stemming from his 15-day siege at a state prison near Buckeye in January 2004.

Wassenaar and his cellmate, Steven Coy, fought their way out of the prison kitchen in the early morning hours of Jan. 18, 2004, and took over the tower, overpowering Fraley and her fellow officer Jason Auch and then holding authorities at bay until Feb. 1.

At the time, Wassenaar said they were trying to escape, but now he claims that he just wanted a media platform so that both inmates could be transferred to prisons in states closer to their families.

Wassenaar is charged with attempted second-degree murder, kidnapping, assault and sexual assault, among other offenses. And although he admits taking the tower, he denies that he was trying to kill anyone or that he sexually assaulted Fraley.

Last spring, Coy pleaded guilty to kidnapping, sexual assault and other charges and was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences that he's now serving at a prison in Maine.

Fraley's testimony capped the fourth week of Wassenaar's trial, a week of intense detail as prosecutor Jeannette Gallagher played tapes of Wassenaar's conversations with police and prison negotiators during the standoff. Several negotiators testified, as did nurses, correctional officers, prison officials and investigators, each adding pieces to the prosecution's mosaic.

Fraley only got an hour into her story before the trial adjourned for the weekend. But her appearance had been highly anticipated, not only by the media but also by Wassenaar, who has told reporters that he "can't wait" to cross-examine her.

That opportunity will come sometime next week after Gallagher finishes her own line of questioning.

Auch testified late last month, and the stress showed clearly on his face and in his voice as Wassenaar pointed out discrepancies between what he said in court and what he had told investigators shortly after the incident.

Fraley has attended several pretrial hearings over the past year. In early appearances, she would wither under Wassenaar's stare until a sheriff's deputy would step in and block his line of sight.

But she looked resolute as she took the stand on Thursday.

Fraley was on duty in the tower when Auch opened the door for Wassenaar, who was dressed as a correctional officer.

Fraley stated that Wassenaar said "you got complacent" before he knocked Auch down with a 3-foot-long metal paddle.

Fraley attacked him but was quickly subdued and handcuffed.

"He told me if I did not cooperate, he would kill me," she told the jury.

But she said she did not cooperate. Instead, she told Wassenaar that she was a "fish," or new recruit, and didn't know how to load the automatic rifle in the tower or how to operate the automatic doors from the tower control panel. And she claimed she refused to bathe and lied to him about having been sexually abused as a child to try to discourage his sexual advances.

According to her testimony, Wassenaar pulled off Fraley's pants so that Coy could wear them as a disguise.

Then, she claimed, despite her protests, Wassenaar sexually assaulted her, though he did not force her to have intercourse as Coy did.

Fraley's mother ran from the courtroom during the graphic testimony.

The trial will resume Monday.