Two women in custody for their alleged involvement in violent kidnapping
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IDAHO FALLS — Two women are behind bars after police arrested them for their alleged involvement in a violent kidnapping last month.
On March 25, police found a woman stripped down at Wolverine Canyon in Bingham County following the reported abduction. The woman, who suffered severe injuries, pointed Idaho Falls police to Maddeline Ovard, 29 and Tabatha McKnight, 37. Both women were arrested last week.
The victim told investigators that around 8 p.m. the night before, Ovard, McKnight and anther woman attacked her while wearing masks at a home on Burlwood Drive, according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by EastIdahoNews.com. Ovard allegedly used a socket wrench and brass knuckles to repeatedly hit the woman before taking $400 in cash, keys and a cellphone.
A friend of the victim witnessed part of the alleged attack before the masked women shoved the victim into her own 2007 White Ford Explorer. With a blindfold on, the attackers drove the victim to an unknown location where they continued to beat her with brass knuckles, according to a police report.
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Police wrote that the attack lasted a couple of hours and the victim said Ovard threatened to slit her throat while McKnight threatened to shoot her. While the victim did not see the weapons, she knew the women had access to them.
Around 9:30 p.m., a friend of the victim received Facebook messages from her bound with her head covered at an unknown location. In the video, the victim reportedly argued with McKight about sleeping with a man. The friend called police around 5 a.m. to report the messages.
At some point, the attackers stopped and loaded the victim into another car before driving her to the canyon in Bingham County. Ovard and McKnight then allegedly had the victim strip and sit on a rock until they left.
The victim suffered a skull fracture and a potential brain bleed but refused treatment at Bingham Memorial Hospital, according to police.
McKnight and Ovard are charged with first-degree kidnapping, robbery and aggravated battery. Both kidnapping and robbery hold up to life prison sentences if convicted. Robbery holds a minimum five-year sentence.
Both women remain held at the Bonneville County Jail on $75,000 bail awaiting preliminary hearings later this month.