Suspects in kidnapping, hatchet attack plead not guilty
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IDAHO FALLS – Four of the five suspects accused of kidnapping and assaulting a local man pleaded not guilty during an arraignment hearing Wednesday.
Devin Crawford, Alvaro Oseguera, Ivan Sandoval and Sarah Oden will now go to trial on multiple charges – including kidnapping Brandon Bykonen.
Earlier this month, Bykonen testified that on Aug. 27, he and Sandoval met up at a laundromat and traveled to Oseguera’s mobile home on Lakewood Drive. They planned to give Oseguera an air compressor and other property in exchange for $80 of meth and $20 for gas money.
“I walked in the house and was attacked,” an emotional Bykonen said during the hearing. “I was told to get to the ground and not move as someone tied my hands together.”
Bykonen testified Oseguera and Crawford told him the abuse was a result of him “being a nark.” The pair, along with Oden, told Bykonen they believed he was an undercover drug police officer who “snitched” on them.
After being blindfolded and tied up, Bykonen testified Crawford and Sandoval put him into Bykonen’s Mustang, and they drove to an open field on Lincoln Hill.
“I was placed face down in the dirt and forced to extend my bound hands out in front of me,” Bykonen said, fighting back tears. “He just started hacking my hands.”
A fifth suspect in the case, Faustina Anaya, will be arraigned Oct. 2.