PENSACOLA (MN) — A man told a woman her husband owed him money, then he kidnapped her and locked her in a toolbox during an hours-long attack in which he’s also accused of beating her mother-in-law to death, Florida authorities said.
David Gipson, 40, went on the run until law enforcement in the Florida Panhandle found him in the woods and arrested him, according to the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Gipson showed up to the victims’ home and told the woman who answered the door that her husband and brother-in-law were thieves and he was there to take the money they owed him, Washington County Sheriff Kevin Crews said at a news conference April 29.
Gipson, a convicted felon, started taking items from the home as she argued with him, then he attacked her, handcuffed her and took her clothes off, according to the sheriff.
Then he began to attack her 74-year-old mother-in-law in front of her, beating her to a “pulp” until she died, Crews said.
Gipson kidnapped the wife and drove her to his home, where he duct-taped her mouth and sexually assaulted her, according to the sheriff. He’s also accused of taking her to a shed in the backyard, hog-tying her and putting her in a container described as an “oversize toolbox.”
“She said she got very hot and thought she was going to suffocate and die,” Crews said.
Several hours later, she was able to get her legs underneath her and kick the box open, then she escaped, deputies said. She used a tree to get the duct tape off her mouth, then she ran into the road until a passerby helped her and called 911 shortly after 5:30 p.m. April 28, according to the sheriff’s office.
Gipson took the mother-in-law’s PT Cruiser, and when officers went to her home, they found her dead, the sheriff said.
Warrants were issued for his arrest on charges of sexual battery, aggravated battery and false imprisonment, and law enforcement agencies mobilized to find him, according to Crews.
The sheriff’s office announced his arrest the afternoon of April 29.
A murder charge is expected as well, said the sheriff, who added Gipson has previously been charged with over 30 felonies.
By OLIVIA LLOYD/McClatchy News
