BENTONVILLE -- A woman testified Thursday against the man she says repeatedly raped her and cut off a portion of her leg.
Brian Post, 48, of Springdale is charged with attempted capital murder, five counts of rape and first-degree battery. Post previously pleaded innocent to the charges. He was arrested in July, more than a year after the woman's attack.
About the case
Brian Post is being held on a $1 million bond in the Benton County Jail. He faces from 10 years to 40 years or life in prison if convicted of attempted murder and any of the rape charges. He could be sentenced from six years to 30 years in prison if found guilty of the battery.
Source: Staff report
The woman was found lying partially clothed on a blood-soaked bed with severe injuries on her leg May 19, 2015, according to the probable cause affidavit. The lower part of the woman's right buttock and the back of her leg appeared to have been cut off almost to the back of her knee, according to the affidavit.
The woman testified that she remembered driving home May 15, then drinking a sports drink. She later woke up in the bathtub. She remembered getting out of the tub and passing out on the couch.
Post was standing behind the couch and looking down at her when she woke up, the woman testified.
"I couldn't move," she said. "I couldn't speak."
The woman testified that she believes she was drugged via the sports drink.
She told jurors that Post put her three dogs outside and then dragged her by the ankles into her bedroom.
The woman described how Post repeatedly raped her with different objects. She testified that Post twice placed her in the shower and washed her body during the attack.
She remembered waking up wrapped in a blue tarp. Post then dragged her from the room, she said. She later woke up and was lying on top of the tarp. She testified that she felt an "incredible, unnatural pain," and Post was cutting her upper leg.
"He took it off in pieces," she said. "I watched him put the pieces in a cooler."
The woman told authorities that, while drifting in and out of consciousness during the attack, she heard Post say he would blame her death on her dogs, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Cuts on the woman's leg were consistent with a sharp knife, and no dog bite marks were found on her body, according to court documents. Benton County sheriff's office deputies also noted that the dogs had no blood on their mouths, according to court documents.
The woman testified that she can no longer work because of her injuries. She spent months in three different hospitals and was discharged from the last one Aug. 29, 2015, after learning to walk again. She has had numerous surgeries and still receives treatment, the woman said.
"The entire side of my leg is gone," she said as she wiped away tears. "It's a struggle."
Post showed no reaction as the woman testified.
Kevin Lammers, one of Post's attorneys, questioned the woman about her memory. The woman testified that she did not remember making 10 telephone calls to Post on May 15 and the early morning of May 16.
She also testified that she did not remember making telephone calls or sending text messages from May 15 through May 18.
"You don't remember talking to your mother on May 18?" Lammers asked.
"No," the woman replied.
Lammers also asked the woman whether she remembered making a telephone call May 18 to the lodge where Post was staying. The woman said she did not remember making the telephone call.
She also testified that she was prescribed several medications, including Ambien and Valium, in May 2015. She testified that she has a history of depression and has occasionally abused her prescribed medications.
Jamie Brust, Post's sister, testified that Post left her home around 8:30 p.m. May 17. She said Post was on his cellphone for a period talking with the accuser's mother. Brust is a defense witness, but Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green allowed the defense to call Brust to testify during the prosecution's portion of the trial because she will be out of town next week.
The trial continues today.
State Desk on 02/24/2017