Five women say 1971 cold-case suspect abused them
Update
Posted: Thursday, January 17, 2008
ELK POINT, S.D. (AP) -- Five women testified Thursday that they were physically and sexually abused by the man charged with killing two Vermillion girls 37 years ago.
The women were the first witnesses during a planned two-day hearing to determine what evidence will be allowed at the March trial of David Lee Lykken, 53, on six alternate counts of murder.
Prosecutors accuse him of killing high school juniors Cheryl Miller and Pamella Jackson, both 17. They were last seen May 29, 1971, driving a 1960 Studebaker Lark on a rural Union County road on their way to a party.
Investigators also suspect Lykken of being involved in the cases of at least three other people whose names have not been released, according to a warrant authorizing an August 2004 search.
Lykken's former wife and three ex-girlfriends said he choked, strangled, raped and beat them, that they often feared for their safety, and that he stalked them after they tried to end relationships with him.
Another woman said she refused to date Lykken and he raped her.
"I have always maintained that there are two individuals in that body and one is an angry, nasty person" and the other is very caring, one former girlfriend said.
Lykken served prison time for a 1983 attack on her in Sioux Falls.
He is serving a 225-year prison sentence for a 1990 attack on another former girlfriend who also testified that Lykken told her a young girl was buried on his family's farm.
The Associated Press has a policy of not releasing the names of sexual assault victims.
Judge Steven Jensen must now decide whether state law allows the testimony of the women, called other-acts evidence, to be allowed in the trial.
Defense lawyer Clint Sargent argued that the testimony should not be introduced because its prejudice outweighs its value.
"Once a jury hears that evidence, there will be no doubt in their mind that David Lykken is a bad character and they should consider him a bad character and he has the propensity to commit this crime," he told Jensen.
Assistant Attorney General Rod Oswald argued that the testimony does support the charges against Lykken for the disappearance of Miller and Jackson.
"He gets angry with women and he chokes them," Oswald said.
The decades-old case was revived that year when the state attorney general created a cold case unit made up of current and former law enforcement officers and other experts looking at unsolved homicides.
The investigation twice took detectives to a Union County farm southwest of Alcester, Lykken's boyhood home, and a nearby northwest Iowa gravel pit.
The farm searches yielded bones, clothing, a red purse, Bible, camera, photographs, newspaper clippings and two chrome-plated hubcaps, among other things.
Most documents in the case have been sealed. But those in the court file indicate Lykken's lawyers want to keep several people from testifying, including Sioux Falls jail inmate Aloysius Black Crow.
Lykken was previously jailed with Black Crow and the state indicated he provided incriminating notes, letters and a tape recording of Lykken.
Lykken, who was 16 when Miller and Jackson vanished, was arrested July 2 at the penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
He is serving a 225-year sentence on a conviction for breaking into the former girlfriend's house in Vermillion in 1990 and raping her repeatedly over four hours.
At that sentencing, the judge characterized Lykken as a threat to women and decided there was little chance he could be rehabilitated.
Lykken will be eligible for parole in May 2033 at age 78. The maximum punishment on the new counts is life in prison.
The women were the first witnesses during a planned two-day hearing to determine what evidence will be allowed at the March trial of David Lee Lykken, 53, on six alternate counts of murder.
Prosecutors accuse him of killing high school juniors Cheryl Miller and Pamella Jackson, both 17. They were last seen May 29, 1971, driving a 1960 Studebaker Lark on a rural Union County road on their way to a party.
Investigators also suspect Lykken of being involved in the cases of at least three other people whose names have not been released, according to a warrant authorizing an August 2004 search.
Lykken's former wife and three ex-girlfriends said he choked, strangled, raped and beat them, that they often feared for their safety, and that he stalked them after they tried to end relationships with him.
Another woman said she refused to date Lykken and he raped her.
"I have always maintained that there are two individuals in that body and one is an angry, nasty person" and the other is very caring, one former girlfriend said.
Lykken served prison time for a 1983 attack on her in Sioux Falls.
He is serving a 225-year prison sentence for a 1990 attack on another former girlfriend who also testified that Lykken told her a young girl was buried on his family's farm.
The Associated Press has a policy of not releasing the names of sexual assault victims.
Judge Steven Jensen must now decide whether state law allows the testimony of the women, called other-acts evidence, to be allowed in the trial.
Defense lawyer Clint Sargent argued that the testimony should not be introduced because its prejudice outweighs its value.
"Once a jury hears that evidence, there will be no doubt in their mind that David Lykken is a bad character and they should consider him a bad character and he has the propensity to commit this crime," he told Jensen.
Assistant Attorney General Rod Oswald argued that the testimony does support the charges against Lykken for the disappearance of Miller and Jackson.
"He gets angry with women and he chokes them," Oswald said.
The decades-old case was revived that year when the state attorney general created a cold case unit made up of current and former law enforcement officers and other experts looking at unsolved homicides.
The investigation twice took detectives to a Union County farm southwest of Alcester, Lykken's boyhood home, and a nearby northwest Iowa gravel pit.
The farm searches yielded bones, clothing, a red purse, Bible, camera, photographs, newspaper clippings and two chrome-plated hubcaps, among other things.
Most documents in the case have been sealed. But those in the court file indicate Lykken's lawyers want to keep several people from testifying, including Sioux Falls jail inmate Aloysius Black Crow.
Lykken was previously jailed with Black Crow and the state indicated he provided incriminating notes, letters and a tape recording of Lykken.
Lykken, who was 16 when Miller and Jackson vanished, was arrested July 2 at the penitentiary in Sioux Falls.
He is serving a 225-year sentence on a conviction for breaking into the former girlfriend's house in Vermillion in 1990 and raping her repeatedly over four hours.
At that sentencing, the judge characterized Lykken as a threat to women and decided there was little chance he could be rehabilitated.
Lykken will be eligible for parole in May 2033 at age 78. The maximum punishment on the new counts is life in prison.
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rape&murder? wrote on Jan 21, 2008 7:51 AM:
moville1 wrote on Jan 18, 2008 12:24 AM:
TuesdaysGone wrote on Jan 17, 2008 4:39 PM: