Former Dartmouth College janitor Thurman Moore was convicted yesterday on charges of assault and criminal restraint following the assault of a Dartmouth graduate student last June.
The jury in Grafton County Superior Court found Moore guilty of three of the five counts-- first degree assault, criminal restraint and second degree assault. He was found not guilty on charges of kidnapping and attempted aggravated felonious sexual assault.
Due to prior convictions in other states the defendant could face between 50 and 150 years imprisonment. Sentencing will be held on April 7.
Moore attacked the unidentified Russian graduate student on South Main Street as she was walking home alone and dragged her into a wooded area, where he attempted to sexually assault her. The woman's screams alerted residents in the area who called the police.
She managed to escape despite suffering several cuts on her face and hands from Moore's pocketknife. After her escape the woman ran to one of the nearby police cruisers that was already on the scene.
Moore pleaded innocent to the charges, claiming he was assaulted by three unidentified assailants that night only moments before the attack on the graduate student, according to the Valley News.
Hanover resident Rosemary Connelly testified at the trial on Monday that she had been awakened by screams and got out of bed to see what was happening, the Valley News reported. She drove toward the screaming and discovered two people hiding in the woods on the side of the road.
Connelly said that she honked her horn, and then saw one person run further into the woods while the second person, the graduate student, ran to the road where a police car sat nearby.
"That's when I realized someone was in trouble. There was a lot of blood," Connelly testified at the trial.
Sgt. Drew Keith and Officer John Kapusta were the first to arrive on the scene from Hanover Police Department. They continued the search for the assailant while the victim was transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
Kapusta said Moore was found in the woods a short time later. A bloody knife was also found on the scene.
According to the Valley News, in a recent interview Moore's lawyer said that the attack was partially a result of personal abuse Moore suffered while employed for the College. Moore filed a civil rights discrimination suit against Dartmouth College in U.S. District Court in February.
Moore's attorney, Christopher Keating, a Grafton Country public defender, could not be reached for comment yesterday.
