The woman that Columbia Police and Boone County prosecutors say was abducted, raped and slashed with a pocket knife more than 41 years ago will testify at the suspect’s trial next week in Columbia.
939 the Eagle’s Brian Hauswirth was at the Boone County Courthouse on Friday afternoon. That’s when Boone County assistant prosecutor Susan Boresi announced that in open court at James Frederick Wilson’s pre-trial conference. Brian was in the courtroom for the hearing. Wilson appeared in court via video from the Boone County jail, wearing a jail jumpsuit.
The 61-year-old Wilson is charged in Boone County with forcible rape and first degree assault for the 1984 incident. Wilson, who grew up in Columbia, has been jailed without bond since 2022, when he was captured in North Carolina.
Graphic court documents say the 1984 victim was walking to work near Wilkes and Providence when the incident happened. CPD investigators say she was driven to northeast Columbia’s Wellington drive, where she was allegedly raped twice. Court documents say Wilson then allegedly used his pocket knife to slash the victim’s throat, causing major damage to her trachea and vocal cords.
Boone County assistant prosecutor Boresi tells Boone County Judge Brouck Jacobs that the woman now lives in another state. Judge Jacobs will call 75 prospective jurors to the Boone County Courthouse for jury selection on October 29. Prosecutor Boresi and defense attorney Kaitlyn Bullard tell Judge Jacobs that they expect jury selection to take several hours. Boresi and Bullard expect the trial to go three days, into Thursday.
