Wheaton rape victim testifies she was ordered to assault infant daughter
The masked intruder had his gloved hand over the woman's mouth when she awoke about 2:20 a.m.
"He said, 'It's OK. Don't worry. Listen to me. I need you to do what I tell you," she testified Wednesday in a hushed DuPage County courtroom.
She said the man led her to the bathroom inside her Wheaton apartment, where he forced her to undress and then snapped photos as he sexually assaulted her.
Then he turned his attention to her 5-month-old daughter.
Wiping away tears, the woman described how she was ordered to remove the infant's diaper and perform a sex act on the child as the intruder watched.
"He got up close to see what was going on," she testified. "He took pictures of me doing that."
The woman took the stand as prosecutors opened their case against James P. Murphy, who faces charges of home invasion and sexual assault.
The 37-year-old Oak Forest man and previously convicted sex offender is accused of entering the woman's College Avenue apartment through a window on Aug. 27, 2005.
Assistant State's Attorney Cathy DeLaMar said Murphy was careful to cover his tracks, wearing heavy work gloves and a black ski mask. The victim, then 26, also was forced to wash evidence from her body and her child's before the intruder fled.
Murphy was arrested in the attack about 10 months later, after being charged with a similar rape in Chicago.
Prosecutors said he went on to make incriminating statements to his girlfriend, and the Wheaton victim immediately recognized his eyes and a dimple in his chin while viewing a police lineup of men in ski masks.
"He brought a camera so he could document every horrific moment as it happened," DeLaMar said. "But she was taking her own pictures in her mind, memorizing every detail."
Assistant Public Defender Brian Jacobs contended there was no physical evidence tying his client to the crime, and jurors should not assume he's guilty because of his other case in Chicago.
"Just because there are similarities between the cases does not mean my client committed every rape in the Chicago area," he said in opening statements.
Jacobs said evidence would show that Murphy's statements to his girlfriend were not about the Wheaton case.
Wednesday's testimony appeared to disturb some jurors. One woman wiped tears from her eyes and another covered her mouth as the victim recalled the assault of the infant. The defendant showed no outward reaction, only leaning over occasionally to pass a note to his attorney.
Murphy currently is serving a 30-year prison term for raping a 25-year-old Chicago woman in May 2006. In that case, prosecutors said he entered the victim's apartment, repeatedly assaulted her, took photos and forced her to bathe. Police found gloves and a mask in his pocket when he was arrested.
Testimony resumes Thursday in front of DuPage Judge Daniel Guerin. The trial is expected to last more than a week.