Brandon Thompson admitted hitting UWM student, but doesn’t remember rape: doctors
Self-proclaimed “monster” Brandon Thompson told police he “saw red” before he allegedly raped and beat an unsuspecting University of Wisconsin-Madison student within an inch of her life.
The 26-year-old told investigators he remembered hitting the stranger repeatedly over the weekend but couldn’t be sure he sexually assaulted her, according to court documents obtained from the Wisconsin State Journal.
Thompson hung his head in silence as he virtually attended the trial Thursday as prosecutors described “one of the most horrific sexual assaults in recent memory.”
“What we have learned over the course of the last 72 hours … is that this defendant was simply driving down the street and saw the victim, had no prior interaction or contact with the victim, and largely spontaneously decided to stop his car.” on camera, pursue them a short distance through downtown and then attack them,” Dane County Assistant District Attorney William said at the initial hearing.
Thompson allegedly broke the woman’s jaw, knocked out several teeth and strangled her after lunging at her as she walked through the University City’s business district around 3:30 a.m. Sunday, police said.
The survivor remains hospitalized in critical condition after being diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury.
Due to her condition, she has not yet given a statement to the police.
After allegedly abusing the woman, Thompson remained at the scene “covered in blood” and told witnesses that he was taking a “high walk” when he found the naked, bloodied and unconscious woman lying on the street, the criminal complaint says .
A witness told police that Thompson appeared “uneasy” after they decided to call 911, which he attributed to him being drunk around officers.
When police arrived, he fled, but was arrested three days later after police linked him to a car spotted on surveillance footage in the neighborhood.
Thompson reportedly told investigators he was angry that night and flew into a wild rage after seeing his victim.
He claims he passed out and woke up to find the woman on the floor.
“The only thing I remember is hitting,” he allegedly told investigators. “She encountered a monster.”
According to the criminal complaint, he said he didn’t remember sexually abusing the victim but admitted he could have.
However, a DNA sample would later directly link Thompson to the woman, police said.
The “most frightening” aspect of the attack – aside from the lack of relationship between the attacker and the victim – was that Thompson had a clean past before allegedly committing the heinous crime.
“This man is perhaps our greatest threat to public safety living in this county right now,” Brown said, asking for bail to be set at $2 million.
“He seemed to fit in so well, a normal person in our community.”
Thompson’s defense team argued that his clean record – as well as “inconsistencies” they said they had found in the prosecution’s case – should justify a $10,000 bond, which the judge immediately rejected.
Thompson was eventually held for $1 million.
He is charged with first-degree sexual assault, willful bodily harm and strangulation.
