Death metal band Decapitated, accused of rape, kidnapping, extradited to Spokane County
Two members of the Polish death metal band Decapitated are on their way to Spokane County to face accusations of kidnap and rape after a concert in Spokane.
Michal Lysejko, 27, the band’s drummer, and Waclaw Kieltyka, 35, the guitarist, began the extradition process Monday night when they were transported from a jail in Los Angeles County en route to Spokane County, said Steven Graham, Lysejko’s attorney. The other two members, Rafal Piotrowski, 31, the lead singer, and Hubert Wiecek, 30, the band’s bass player, will be transported at a later date.
The four men were arrested Sept. 9 in Santa Ana, California, on suspicion of first-degree kidnapping stemming from an Aug. 31 incident in downtown Spokane. They have been held in Los Angeles County Jail awaiting extradition to Spokane.
On Sept. 11, court documents were released detailing an alleged gang rape that a woman said was carried out by all four members after she was invited onto their tour bus after their show. The woman’s friend told police she was almost a victim of rape herself, but was able to escape after kicking Piotrowski in the groin and running from the bus to her car.
While the band members have not been officially charged with rape, Graham indicated Wednesday additional charges could be filed once they arrive in Spokane. He intends to fight those as well, he said. He said on Sept. 9 that there is “another side to this.”
“We have witnesses that can testify to the fact that the accuser came to visit the band of her own free will and left on good terms,” he said. “The accuser has a documented history of providing false information to the police dating back to 2014.”
In a police report released to the defense on Tuesday through a public records request, witnesses offered divergent accounts from those reported by the two women. According to the women, the band members invited the women onto the bus and offered them drinks before quickly becoming aggressive and groping them.
One woman said she was “grabbed and spun around to where she was facing the sink and mirror in the bathroom” when she noticed her friend leave. The woman said she “saw in the mirror and out of the corner of her eye each of the band members taking turns raping her.”
But a volunteer of The Pin, 412 W. Sprague Ave., where the show took place, said that after the show and before they were in the bus, that the two women were “groping” and “all over” the lead singer and another member of the band, touching their backs, sides and chests – “feeling them up” – to the point where the men asked security if they needed to be kicked out.
He told police after clearing more equipment out of the venue that he saw through the bus doors one woman chugging a clear liquid, which he believed to be alcohol. Later, he saw both women standing outside of the bus door smoking a cigarette. He last saw the alleged victim’s friend walking west, talking on her phone. He told police she seemed more “(angry) than anything.”
Later that night, the woman who said she escaped was stopped for a DUI just after midnight. The Washington State Patrol trooper who made the stop said the woman didn’t mention a sexual assault when he pulled her over, or when he took her into custody. It was when he was parked outside of the Spokane County Jail and writing a search warrant for her blood that she asked to use her phone, according to court documents.
“She spoke to someone on the phone and then said to him that her friend was raped by five men downtown,” police wrote in court documents. The trooper said the woman was unable to provide a specific location, so he advised her friend to call 911.
In subsequent interviews with the alleged victim, who was still on the bus, and her mother, both women were critical of law enforcement’s lack of action when the friend notified troopers of the rape. In a written complaint filed with the Spokane Police Department, the victim said officers “let me down.”
“Why was there no pro-action when a young woman was crying for help (when) she just got raped by multiple men?” the woman wrote. “Can you please tell me how three squad police cars can show up to someone stealing, or petty theft, but when a woman’s dignity is being taken away from her the police men just drive away?”
On Sept. 14, the band announced via its Facebook page that all future touring dates would be canceled indefinitely. The band also took the opportunity to publicly deny the accusations.
“While we are not perfect human beings, we are not kidnappers, rapists, or criminals. As such, we strongly deny the allegations that have recently been brought against us,” they wrote. “We ask that everyone please reserve their judgment until a definitive outcome has been reached, as charges have yet to be pressed. Full testimony and evidence will be presented in due time, and we have faith in that process.”