Mark Herbert Warren, 50 (Riverside Co. Sheriff's Dept.) |
RIVERSIDE -- A former Victorville contractor was convicted Friday of kidnapping a Riverside woman, locking her in a coffin-like crate and demanding ransom from her husband.
A Riverside jury found Mark Herbert Warren, 50, guilty of kidnapping, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, eight counts of identity theft and allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 12.
The seven-woman, five-man panel spent roughly six hours weighing evidence in the case.
Warren broke into the Prince Albert Drive home of Ted and Linda Boecker on March 21, 2007, took Linda Boecker by force, tied her up and shut her inside a custom-built plywood box in the back of his utility van, where she remained until the defendant's arrest nearly six hours later.
Warren testified in his own defense Thursday, saying that by the time of the abduction, he had overextended himself financially, racking up tremendous debts trying to run his two contracting businesses.
He said he viewed a kidnapping as the quickest way to obtain cash. He demanded $140,000 from his Boecker's husband.
"I needed something where I could control all aspects," the defendant testified.
According to Warren, he had selected a half-dozen potential targets with local name recognition and, after monitoring the Boeckers on and off for months, decided then-57-year-old Linda Boecker would be the ideal victim. He did not personally know the couple.
Linda Boecker testified that Warren posed as a delivery man to get her to open her front door, then punched her and shocked her with a stun gun, causing her to lose muscle control and fall "like jelly" onto the floor.
Boecker testified Warren threatened that if her husband didn't come up with the money, the defendant would put her "some place they wouldn't find me for a couple of years."
In his ransom letter, the defendant told Ted Boecker that failing to follow instructions would risk the Realtor becoming "the guy known as the one who got his wife killed over $140,000."
Warren denied using extreme force to subdue Linda Boecker, but acknowledged the cuts and bruises on her face likely were a result of the kidnapping.
She testified that she was hog-tied and forced to wear a dark hood during her hours-long imprisonment in the crate. She said she struggled to breath in the stifling space and was only able to get wisps of fresh air when the defendant lifted her hood just enough for her to talk on a mobile phone, during calls to her husband to check his progress in gathering the money.
According to Warren, he stopped by his motel room and went to an El Pollo Loco restaurant to eat while Boecker was locked in the box.
Warren was asked why he didn't simply declare bankruptcy to get out of his financial straits and replied that bankruptcy would have meant losing his home, his businesses and his son's college education funds.
He said he never considered selling a $22,000 sailboat in his wife's name, adding that the $140,000 ransom would have paid maybe six months worth of bills.
Around 6 p.m. on the day of the abduction, Warren parked his van on a dirt road leading to a water tower near Lake Pointe Drive in Lake Hills, south of Riverside, where he caught an area resident's attention.
The woman feared Warren was doing something illegal, prompting her to call 911.
As the responding Riverside County sheriff's deputy was questioning Warren, he found the victim locked in the crate in the back of the defendant's van, bound and gagged, suffering from dehydration.
During a search of his property, there were indications the defendant had similar plans for other affluent Southern California residents, according to prosecutors.
The criminal complaint alleges Warren illegally gained personal information on 10 people in order "to obtain and attempt to obtain credit, goods and services in the name of the other person without consent of that person."
A Riverside jury found Mark Herbert Warren, 50, guilty of kidnapping, burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, eight counts of identity theft and allegations of using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 12.
The seven-woman, five-man panel spent roughly six hours weighing evidence in the case.
Warren broke into the Prince Albert Drive home of Ted and Linda Boecker on March 21, 2007, took Linda Boecker by force, tied her up and shut her inside a custom-built plywood box in the back of his utility van, where she remained until the defendant's arrest nearly six hours later.
Warren testified in his own defense Thursday, saying that by the time of the abduction, he had overextended himself financially, racking up tremendous debts trying to run his two contracting businesses.
He said he viewed a kidnapping as the quickest way to obtain cash. He demanded $140,000 from his Boecker's husband.
"I needed something where I could control all aspects," the defendant testified.
According to Warren, he had selected a half-dozen potential targets with local name recognition and, after monitoring the Boeckers on and off for months, decided then-57-year-old Linda Boecker would be the ideal victim. He did not personally know the couple.
Linda Boecker testified that Warren posed as a delivery man to get her to open her front door, then punched her and shocked her with a stun gun, causing her to lose muscle control and fall "like jelly" onto the floor.
Boecker testified Warren threatened that if her husband didn't come up with the money, the defendant would put her "some place they wouldn't find me for a couple of years."
In his ransom letter, the defendant told Ted Boecker that failing to follow instructions would risk the Realtor becoming "the guy known as the one who got his wife killed over $140,000."
Warren denied using extreme force to subdue Linda Boecker, but acknowledged the cuts and bruises on her face likely were a result of the kidnapping.
She testified that she was hog-tied and forced to wear a dark hood during her hours-long imprisonment in the crate. She said she struggled to breath in the stifling space and was only able to get wisps of fresh air when the defendant lifted her hood just enough for her to talk on a mobile phone, during calls to her husband to check his progress in gathering the money.
According to Warren, he stopped by his motel room and went to an El Pollo Loco restaurant to eat while Boecker was locked in the box.
Warren was asked why he didn't simply declare bankruptcy to get out of his financial straits and replied that bankruptcy would have meant losing his home, his businesses and his son's college education funds.
He said he never considered selling a $22,000 sailboat in his wife's name, adding that the $140,000 ransom would have paid maybe six months worth of bills.
Around 6 p.m. on the day of the abduction, Warren parked his van on a dirt road leading to a water tower near Lake Pointe Drive in Lake Hills, south of Riverside, where he caught an area resident's attention.
The woman feared Warren was doing something illegal, prompting her to call 911.
As the responding Riverside County sheriff's deputy was questioning Warren, he found the victim locked in the crate in the back of the defendant's van, bound and gagged, suffering from dehydration.
During a search of his property, there were indications the defendant had similar plans for other affluent Southern California residents, according to prosecutors.
The criminal complaint alleges Warren illegally gained personal information on 10 people in order "to obtain and attempt to obtain credit, goods and services in the name of the other person without consent of that person."
