JURY FINDS CAPE MAN GUILTY OF RAPE

NEW MADRID -- A Cape Girardeau man faces two life sentences plus an additional 22 years after being found guilty of raping a woman and beating her boyfriend with a hammer in Cape Girardeau.

After about an hour of deliberations, the jury found DeMarcus Wright, 19, guilty of forcible rape, first-degree burglary, second-degree assault and armed criminal action.

Wright appeared before Judge Fred Copeland in New Madrid on Thursday. After the verdicts were read, the judge raised the bond to $1 million until sentencing.

The jury recommended maximum sentences for each charge: life in prison for forcible rape and armed criminal action, 15 years for burglary and seven years for the assault charge.

"This is one predatory rapist who should never walk the streets again," said Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle.

Wright and another man, Shondale Tipler, 20, were alleged to have noticed the woman coming home to her apartment about 3 a.m. on July 24 after a party. They had never known or seen her before, Swingle said. "They spotted her and thought she was attractive."

In exchange for a lesser sentence, Tipler, 20, pleaded guilty to forcible rape and testified against Wright, Swingle said. Tipler will be sentenced on Tuesday.

After they saw the victim, Wright and Tipler came up with a plan to break into the apartment and rape her, the prosecutor said.

They gathered several items from a friend for their plan, including latex gloves, a stocking cap, a Halloween mask, a screwdriver and a hammer.

Wearing the mask and stocking cap pulled down covering their faces, they used the screwdriver to pry the door open at about 6 a.m. The woman and her boyfriend were still asleep in bed when their assailants came into their bedroom.

The boyfriend was awakened by two blows to his head with the hammer. It later took several stitches to close his wounds, Swingle said.

"After that he was in no shape to defend himself or her," the prosecutor said.

While Wright dragged the woman into the bathroom and raped her, Tipler stood over her boyfriend with the hammer.

Then, Wright brought the woman out and encouraged Tipler to rape her. Tipler took her into the bathroom and raped her using the hammer.

He told the court that he had hesitated at first but he did not want "to look like a punk" in front of Wright, Swingle said.

Shirley Deng of the SEMO crime lab testified about DNA and said she found DNA matching both defendants in the panties of victim.