BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — “Pillowcase rapist” Ronald Feldmeier, convicted last month of failing to register as a sex offender, has been assigned a courtroom for trial on a kidnapping charge.
The 72-year-old Feldmeier will have his trial presided over by Superior Court Judge John R. Brownlee. Feldmeier, Deputy Public Defender Jacob Evans and prosecutor Leanne Wilder were scheduled to report to Brownlee’s courtroom at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
It could be a week or more before opening statements as Brownlee will first hear motions and a jury must be chosen. Also, the courthouse is closed next Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
A woman told authorities Feldmeier kidnapped her in June after she willingly got in his car. She said he later refused to stop and let her out, and she jumped from the moving vehicle to escape, according to court documents.
Feldmeier became known as the pillowcase rapist because he used the covering to stifle his victims’ screams during sexual assaults committed in Sacramento in the 1980s. Released in 2019 after more than 30 years behind bars, he failed to update his registration with Bakersfield police after moving to a sober living home.
