- Ryan Crowther and Randee Krukowski pleaded guilty to criminal charges in Salt Lake City.
- Crowther, Krukowski and a third person were charged with kidnapping and abusing a woman in Salt Lake.
- Crowther pleaded guilty to rape while Krukowski pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.
SALT LAKE CITY — Two of three people accused of holding a woman captive and torturing her in a Salt Lake apartment have pleaded guilty to rape and assault charges.
In April 2022, Ryan James Crowther, 32, of Salt Lake City, Randee Krukowsi, 32, of Salt Lake City, and Sergio Octavio Reynoso, 38, of Murray, were arrested and accused of kidnapping, drugging and sexually and physically assaulting a woman over an extended period of time after the woman refused sex.
Crowther pleaded guilty Monday to rape, a first-degree felony. In his plea statement, Crowther admitted he had sexual intercourse with the woman and "intended, knew about or was reckless about (her) lack of consent."
Krukowski pleaded guilty on Sept. 25 to a reduced charge of aggravated assault, a second-degree felony. In her plea statement, she said she used "unlawful force or violence" against the woman by striking her in the head, causing serious bodily injury.
On April 10, a 22-year-old woman went to a Salt Lake apartment, 1450 S. West Temple, where the three defendants and two children, both under the age of 10, were present. While the woman was there, Krukowski and Reynoso tried to get the woman to engage in sex, according to police, but she refused and tried to leave. That's when Krukowski blocked the door and kicked the woman, causing her to fall to the ground, the charging documents state.
The woman was then forced to go to a bedroom where Krukowski allegedly blocked the door again. When the woman did not sit down, "Krukowski snapped her fingers and Reynoso immediately grabbed (the woman) and forced her to sit," according to the charges. Krukowski then took out four Xanax pills from her pocket and told the woman to take them, police say, but the woman refused, saying the pills would "cause her to black out."
"Krukowski told (the woman) that if she didn't take the pills, Reynoso would do something very bad to her," the charging documents allege. Police say Reynoso then took a handgun out of his waistband and waived it around.
The woman told investigators that she "feared for her life" and took the pills "because she didn't want to die." The woman said she was "in and out of consciousness all night" and was sexually assaulted multiple times by Reynoso and Crowther, the charges say.
At one point when she regained consciousness, she again tried to leave but Krukowski kicked her feet out from under her and told her "that she wasn't going anywhere," according to the charges.
At another point when she was conscious again, the woman told police she realized that Krukowski "had her by the hair and was cutting it." The woman "started crying and asked Kruskowski what she did to deserve this." Krukowski then "began repeatedly hitting and punching" the woman," the charges state. This was allegedly witnessed by one of the children in the house who screamed for Krukowski to stop.
Crowther later told police that when he woke up the next day, the woman was lying on the floor while Krukowski was trying to make her "look better," court documents say.
When the woman was finally able to leave, she called 911 and was taken to a local hospital to be treated for "severe injuries," according to a police booking affidavit. After seeing the woman at the hospital, police returned to the residence with a search warrant and reported seizing drugs, drug paraphernalia and other items of evidence.
Reynoso, Krukowsi and Crowther were initially charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated sexual assault, aggravated kidnaping, and object rape, first-degree felonies; aggravated assault, a second-degree felony; two counts of child endangerment, a third-degree felony; and two counts of committing a violent offense in the presence of a child, a class B misdemeanor.
In addition, Reynoso and Crowther were also each charged with two counts of forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony, and Reynoso is charged with an additional count of object rape, a first-degree felony.
As part of his plea deal, all of Crowther's charges other than the single rape charge to which he pleaded guilty were dismissed. The agreement also stipulated that if Reynoso goes to trial, Crowther will provide truthful testimony as to what occurred and Crowther will not be sentenced to prison, as long as he completes probation.
Krukowski's plea agreement also specified her other charges would be dropped if she will testify at Reynoso's trial. Reynoso's trial is scheduled for February.
