Half brothers convicted of kidnapping, rape
by A.J. Flick on Jan. 21, 2009, under LocalCitizen Staff Writer
LAW AND ORDER REPORT
A.J. FLICK
ajflick@tucsoncitizen.com
Two half brothers were convicted Tuesday of kidnapping, sexual assault and other crimes related to an illegal criminal enterprise that prosecutors say involved intimidating vulnerable women to do their bidding.
Howard Ned McMonigal III, 36, was convicted of five counts each of kidnapping, four counts of sexual assault, three counts of theft and one count each of conducting an illegal enterprise, aggravated assault, illegal possession of a vehicle and possession of meth.
McMonigal bowed his head and wiped his eyes as the verdicts were read.
Deputy County Attorney Kellie Johnson said McMonigal will likely spend the rest of his life in prison when he is sentenced March 23.
Ignacio Esteban Rimer, 30, was convicted of one count each of conducting an illegal enterprise, kidnapping, aggravated assault and sexual assault.
McMonigal was acquitted of one count of kidnapping; Rimer was acquitted of two counts of kidnapping.
After jurors left the courtroom, McMonigal put his arm around his brother.
Courthouse officers quickly surrounded the brothers as Pima County Superior Court Judge Gus Aragon warned McMonigal that he was not behaving appropriately.
“I’m just hugging my brother,” McMonigal said, eventually dropping his arm.
Some members of the jury entered the courtroom after the verdicts were read and sat in the audience.
As Rimer was being handcuffed, he turned to the jurors and denied harming any women.
“I might be rough around the edges, but I’d never do that to a female,” he said. “Never!”
Aragon admonished Rimer to be quiet as officers pulled him, still protesting, out of the courtroom.
Johnson said in trial that McMonigal ran an illegal enterprise out of his mobile home for at least three years since 2004 and made a living selling drugs and stolen vehicles.
