Trial to begin for California man accused of kidnapping woman, holding her in makeshift casket
By APWednesday, September 30, 2009
Trial begins for Calif. man accused of kidnapping
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Opening statements are set for Thursday in the trial of a Southern California contractor accused of kidnapping a woman, holding her in a makeshift casket and demanding $140,000 ransom.
Fifty-year-old Mark Herbert Warren of Victorville faces charges of kidnapping for ransom, burglary and assault with a deadly weapon.
Prosecutors allege he attacked the woman with a stun gun in 2007 at her Riverside home. They say he then handcuffed her, covered her head with a hood and put her in a casket-like box inside his van.
Authorities say the woman’s husband returned home to find a ransom letter and photographs of her restrained.
Warren was arrested about seven hours later after a resident spotted a suspicious van outside her home. Authorities say a deputy rescued the woman.
Warren faces a possible life sentence.
