A grand jury added additional charges against two men who were in September arrested for an alleged kidnapping in Kenai.
On Sept. 2, John Martin, 57, of Kenai, and Douglas Massey, 63, of Nikiski, were arrested after Kenai Police responded to a report by a caller who said they had been held hostage overnight in Massey’s home on the Kenai Spur Highway near Mountain View Elementary.
The two men were both charged with second- and third-degree assault and kidnapping. Martin was further charged with second-degree sexual assault and fifth-degree misconduct involving controlled substances. In October, two of the charges against Martin — second-degree assault and second-degree sexual assault — were dismissed.
A grand jury indictment, dated for Feb. 14, adds further assault charges for both men, as well as charges for robbery, theft, and coercion. The charges of assault and sexual assault that had been dismissed were refiled by the indictment.
Per the indictment, both men face one charge of kidnapping, one charge of second-degree assault, five charges of third-degree assault, two charges each of theft and of robbery in the second-degree and two charges of coercion. Martin further faces charges of second- and third-degree sexual assault.
According to an affidavit included with charging documents when the two men were arrested, Kenai Police observed bruises and marks on the head, arms and shoulder of the alleged victim — who reported they had escaped Massey’s home and used a neighbor’s phone to call police.
Massey’s home was searched, the affidavit says, and tools that were said to have been used to assault the alleged victim were found, as well as that person’s iPhone, car, clothes and “blood spatter” in areas that they described.
Massey told police, per the affidavit, that he came home late to find Martin and the alleged victim “hanging out,” denying striking them or seeing anyone else striking them. Martin said that he didn’t know anyone other than Massey was ever at the house Friday night, and that “he had no idea” what investigators were talking about.
A motion by Bill Taylor, attorney for Martin, seeks to have the case against Martin dismissed, arguing that the state has infringed on Martin’s right to a speedy trial according to Alaska Rule of Criminal Procedure 45, as more than 120 days have passed since he was first arraigned in September.
The state filed an opposition to the motion on Feb. 12, disputing that the 120 days have passed based on the delay of multiple hearings by request of attorneys. Taylor filed a further rebuttal on Feb. 16, writing “the defense disagrees with the State’s summation of the facts. Additionally, the Defense disagrees with the State’s calculation of Rule 45.”
No such motion has been filed for Massey.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
