GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — A former Texas death row inmate freed nearly 30 years ago is accused of keeping a woman in his home in western Colorado for months and repeatedly raping her.
"She's been through hell and back," said Sgt. Henry Stoffel of the Mesa County Sheriff's Office on Thursday.
According to the arrest affidavit, Claude Lee Wilkerson, 61, kept the woman — with the help of a 14-year-old runaway teenager — chained up in his home in Gateway, Colo., since the fall of 2015. Gateway is about 50 miles southwest of Grand Junction.
"It's a very small rural community, everybody’s close-knit, everybody knows everybody. It's definitely a place to hideaway and be left alone," Stoffel said.
The 26-year-old victim was homeless and had been held captive at Wilkerson's home about four months.
According to the runaway, who told investigators how she helped tie up the victim, they used "diesel engine cleaner" to try to make the victim pass out.
“She (the victim) said he claimed to be a Shaman numerous times. He also would often claim that he was a serial killer. She said because of the way he chained her and treated her, she believed it to be true that he was a serial killer,” the affidavit states.
According to the affidavit, “Claude Wilkerson has kept her chained to the bed since October. (The victim) said her legs remained chained even when she wasn’t chained to the bed leg. She described that she was treated like a pet since that time and would be rewarded for good behavior.”
While chained up, she was repeatedly forced to have sex with him. The victim reported she didn't fight off sex.
Authorities were tipped off to the case in February when the runaway was reported found. The girl told another person about the kidnapping.
When deputies arrived at Wilkerson's home to check on the story, the victim walked outside casually but was clearly afraid.
According to the arrest affidavit, the victim, who had an outstanding $50 warrant for her arrest, told investigators that she "kinda wanted to be arrested on my warrant."
The deputy felt he needed to get her away from Wilkerson, Stoffel said.
Deputies told Wilkerson they were taking the victim and needed her ID and Social Security card. Wilkerson gave them the victim's ID, which he kept in his wallet, but could not find her Social Security card.
When deputies talked to the victim she seemed withdrawn and nervous about talking to them.
According to the affidavit, the victim told deputies that she "had only been allowed to go out into the yard a few times and to the Gateway Store twice."
Wilkerson was arrested in February and is being held in the Mesa County Jail on charges of kidnapping, sex assault with threat of death, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, false imprisonment and harboring a minor.
Victor T. Prosser, a former neighbor, said he did not know Wilkerson very well.
"He was kind of a recluse," said Prosser. "I'd seen him on the street."
Prosser said he recently saw Wilkerson with a young girl.
"She was with him all the time," he said.
Wilkerson once did work for Prosser, installing a window in his home.
"I talked to him sometimes on the street. It's sure a shock to me what's been going on," Prosser said.
Stoffel confirmed that Wilkerson spent four years on death row before being freed from Texas state prison in 1983 after a judge threw out his confession because he didn't waive his rights. He was one of four men arrested in 1978 in connection to the deaths of three people during a jewelry store robbery.
Wilkerson's arrest record goes back more than 40 years. According to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, he has four previous arrests in the state.
Wilkerson, who is being held on a $1 million bond, will be represented by a public defender.
"At this point these are only allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent. However, the allegations that have been made in the case are extremely serious and extremely aggravated. While the investigation is not complete at this time, it is clear already that the DA's office will vigorously prosecute the case without regard to resources," Mesa County District Attorney Dan Rubinstein said in a statement.
Follow Mallory Davis on Twitter: @mallory_davis87
