courtesy of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department
LaRon Wiliams: Previously convicted of bribery, he was found guilty of kidnapping in a trial last week.
According to his girlfriend's testimony, obtained from court files, Williams also whipped the pair's 75-pound pitbull across the room into an entertainment center -- after the brave pup attempted to come to the woman's defense.
At one point while she was trapped inside the dog kennel, the woman testified, she feared that Williams would light the kennel on fire.
"He kept saying, 'I got something for you, bitch,'" the woman testified, according to a transcript of her pre-trial testimony in the court file. "And he walked over to...the stove and I heard the pilot light, and I didn't know what he was going to do."
At that point, the woman was able to kick the door to the kennel loose -- but that triggered Williams' rage even further. She testified that he then tackled her, tied her wrists and ankles with computer cord, and then choked her with another cord.
By the end of the attack, early that morning, the woman had a sprained arm. (For a week afterward, she testified, "my hair came out in gobs.") Around 4 a.m., the woman testified, Williams untied her. She later made her way to the urgent care, where she agreed to let staffers call the police.
But that's not the end of this tawdry saga. Later, the woman testified, Williams' stepmother gave her a not-so-subtle warning: "He says if you don't drop the charges, he's going to release a tape of you." (And by tape, we're reading "sex tape.") Later, a highly edited version of a tape, showing only the woman, was sent to her family and friends, she testified.
Williams, who lives in Tower Grove East, previously made headlines in 2007. He had been facing a misdemeanor traffic charge when he visited a court clerk at her home and attempted to convince her to "loose the case." To curry favor, he brought the clerk, yes, a six-pack of Budweiser Select.
He ended up being found guilty of bribery.
The brutal attack on his then-girlfriend, who the RFT is not naming, took place in February 2009. The jury reached its verdict after a three-day trial last Thursday; Williams is scheduled for sentencing August 25 in the courtroom of St. Louis City Circuit Court Judge Angela Turner-Quigless.
