Editors’ note: This post originally contained the name of the 42-year-old witness who testified Tuesday. I’ve since taken his name out in an effort to protect the identity of his female roommate, who the newspaper has decided should be treated as the victim of a sex crime. We generally do not publish the names of sex-crime victims and try not to report specific details that could lead to people discovering who they are.
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The victim of a Tacoma home-invasion robbery testified in Pierce County Superior Court on Tuesday about the day in October 2005 he was hog-tied and stomped on the head by a masked gunman.
"I thought my time was up," the 42-year-old man said during the trial of suspected serial rapist Anthony Casper Dias.
Pierce County prosecutors contend Dias was the intruder who attacked the man and his two roommates during an early-morning robbery at a condominium in the 6100 block of North 16th Street.
The man testified he never got a clear look at his attacker’s face and couldn’t say Dias was the gunman, but prosecutors say they have evidence that ties the 28-year-old Dias to the scene.
Dias is on trial in Pierce County for 20 crimes, including multiple counts of rape and robbery.
He faces another trial this summer in King County, where he’s charged with another 19 crimes.
Dias has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Under the questioning of deputy prosecutor Lori Kooiman, the 42-year-old man testified for more than an hour about the Oct. 31 attack.
He told jurors about being awakened in his room about 4 a.m. by a man wearing dark clothing and a ski mask.
The intruder was hostile, glassy-eyed and smelled of marijuana, he said.
“I remember seeing a gun in his hand,” the witness testified.
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