Ronald Mark Feldmeier (Screenshot from Bakersfield NBC affiliate KGET)
A man dubbed the ‘Pillowcase Rapist’ for using a pillowcase to silence his victims in California in the 1980s — released early from prison after three decades behind bars — has been convicted of kidnapping a woman, found injured and disoriented after she jumped from a moving car he was driving.
Ronald Mark Feldmeier, 72, was convicted on Wednesday of kidnapping, online court information said. He was acquitted of imprisonment with violence. His sentencing date has not been set.
Jacob Evans, his public defender, said he’s disappointed in the outcome, Bakersfield NBC affiliate KGET reported.
“We disagree with the jury’s ultimate decision on the facts, but we are grateful for the attention and care that they brought to it,” said Evans, the station reported. “It is their decision — not ours — which matters. When the process is fair, and deliberations are thorough, we can all have greater confidence in the justice of the outcome.”
“It’s immensely important that cases like these get decided based on the facts and the evidence of the case at hand, and not based on decisions about the person’s character, or swayed by public opinion, or wrath over past wrongs, but only by the evidence presented and the law that controls,” he added. “Only the jury was there during their deliberations, so I do not know what facts they found most important in their analysis, but I’m sure they held each other accountable in coming to their unanimous decision.”
As Law&Crime reported, Bakersfield Police Department officers responded at about 2 a.m. on June 26 to a report of a disoriented woman with traumatic injuries yelling for help in the 1800 block of Glenarm Court in the city of Bakersfield, more than 100 miles north of Los Angeles. The woman was taken to a hospital where she was listed in stable condition, officials said.
Police said the woman became concerned for her safety based on undisclosed statements Feldmeier allegedly made. She repeatedly asked him to stop and let her out of the vehicle, but he refused, and she jumped out.
Feldmeier, a registered sex offender, was arrested at his home and booked into the Kern County Jail on kidnapping charges.
Feldmeier was imprisoned on May 15, 1986, to serve 67 years for oral copulation with force, attempted rape, rape, sodomy with force, and robbery, according to a statement to Law&Crime from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
He received 885 days of pre-sentence credits awarded by the sentencing court for time served while awaiting trial, the statement said. He was also eligible for day-for-day prison work credits under the law.
He served 33 years, 4 months, and 6 days when released to parole supervision on Sept. 21, 2019. His parole supervision ended on Sept. 20, 2022, officials said.
In 2020, he was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender, KGET reported.
The lawyer who represented him told the station he was no longer a threat.
“He served his time, which was worse than time served by other people because he was repeatedly assaulted, stabbed and attacked by other inmates,” said Humphrey, the station reported then.
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