It was initially as a friendship, but prosecutors claimed it quickly turned into a nightmare kidnapping as Ian Edard Kroe captured a 74-year-old woman in a hotel for two years, repeatedly raped her and threatened to suffer as she tried to escape.
Crow, 58, was sentenced to 394 years in a disturbing case in San Mateo County on Tuesday. Atti. Stephen Wagstaffe said it was different from anything he or his prosecutor had seen before. On February 20, he was convicted of 33 felony counts.
“It’s just a friendship with the victim, and then suddenly the guy turns into a wild beast,” Wagstaff said.
Crow lives in Minnesota in Minnesota, and his mother died and reached out to become friends with the victims in 2016, according to a statement from the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors did not explain what the victim had to do with Crow’s mother.
Once, Crow flew to New Mexico where the victim lives, and the two embarked on a four-year road trip that would become the West Coast, Belmont Police Department CPL. Brian Vogel told Palo Alto Daily Mail.
Officials say the relationship is not romantic. The prosecutor did not identify the victim.
Crow’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Then, in August 2020, Crow began holding the female prisoner at a Hyatt Hotel in Belmont, repeatedly raped her and forced her to have sex.
According to prosecutors, Kroe threatened to kill her and if she tried to escape, he also said he would torture her for weeks before killing her.
Prosecutors said Crow took over the woman’s financial situation, exhausted her bank account and refused to let her leave her hotel room.
The woman repeatedly told Kroy that she wanted to return to New Mexico, but he refused to let her be free.
According to the statement, in 2021, she broke her ankle despite being in severe pain and Kroe refused to receive treatment.
In August 2022, the victim secretly contacted a friend from New Mexico. A friend called the authorities and Belmont police found her in a hotel room.
According to prosecutors, the woman was found naked, with several bruises on her body and a fractured finger and unable to move alone.
Kroe faces multiple felony crimes, including intentional torture, 10 counts of forced sodomy, felony threats and false imprisonment.
Wagstaff said it was unclear what led to the disturbing crimes that led to the two after a year-long friendship. He noted that Crow did not have a serious encounter with law enforcement before being arrested in this case.
“There’s nothing to mark you or tell you to be on guard,” he said.
But Wagstaffe describes Kroe as a “master manipulator” who attempts to delay the trial with antics such as forging medical emergencies.
Kroe said several times, including during the verdict, that he felt chest pain and believed he had a heart attack.
“He would say he can’t continue,” he said. “For him, it’s just a game.”
Kroe once said he was having a heart attack and was treated by a prison nurse. He received painkillers, but he didn’t seem to suffer from the emergency.
“He does believe he is the victim,” Wagstaff said.
