Nobody Said ‘No,’ Rape Suspect Says Stole Woman’s Truck, Credit Cards; All Else Consensual, Defendant Adds

Brian Anderson admitted getting high, stealing a woman’s pickup truck and credit cards, having sex with her and leaving her bound to a tree with wire and duct tape.

But he denied kidnapping or raping the woman, testifying Monday in Spokane County Superior Court that she never said “no” and encouraged him - even tying up her own legs.

Anderson told the jury he was high on methamphetamine and crack when he met the 49-year-old Stevens County woman in the Wandermere Mall parking lot.

His thinning brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, Anderson, 28, said the woman drove her truck into the lot and waved to him about midnight last Aug. 13.

Everything between them was consensual, he said, except for him stealing her credit cards and truck.

The woman testified last week that she was asleep in her truck when Anderson attacked her about 6 a.m. Aug. 14. She said she occasionally slept in her truck after working 16 hours at two nearby businesses instead of driving the 50 miles home.

She said he drove her to a Mead-area gravel pit and raped her. Afterward, she said he took her to a remote wooded area in the Valley and tied her to a tree.

Before testifying Monday, Anderson rolled the sleeves of his gray button-down shirt to just below his elbows, showing off dark-blue tattoos stretching up from his wrists in a detailed pattern that included skulls. He wore jeans and a new pair of Fila tennis shoes.

Anderson gave this version of what happened:

After meeting the woman, they talked. About 1 a.m., she drove him in search of a man named “Red” who owed Anderson $1,500.

The two got the money and drove back to the Wandermere Mall. He admitted stealing three credit cards from her purse, and said he left the woman about 3 a.m.

He said he later went for a motorcycle ride with a girlfriend and ended up back at the parking lot about 6 a.m. The motorcycle broke down, he said, and he left his friend to go talk to the Stevens County woman, whose truck was still in the lot.

Anderson said he drove off with the woman in her truck, after she said he could drive. On the way, he said he picked up his girlfriend, but acted like he didn’t know her.

He said he stopped the truck at Peone Park and pulled a knife on his friend, who jumped out of the car. He said he then drove to a dead-end dirt road near a construction site, where he and the Stevens County woman relieved themselves.

Anderson said he then drove to Beacon Hill in the Valley. On the way, he said the woman took off her shoes and bound her feet with duct tape.

At Beacon Hill, Anderson said he told the woman that he didn’t mind light bondage. He said he taped up the woman’s hands and she didn’t complain. He said the two then had sex in a grassy area.

“That’s the way it ended up, and nobody said ‘no,”’ Anderson testified.

After they put on their clothes, he said they started fighting because Anderson wanted to borrow the truck to buy some meth.

He admitted tying her to a tree with duct tape and green wire.

“I told her it wasn’t real tight,” Anderson said. “She could get loose.”

Testimony in the trial is expected to conclude today. Anderson faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted of rape, kidnapping, robbery, indecent liberties, malicious mischief and car theft.

, DataTimes