Trial begins today in Fairchild rape case
Opening statements are set for this afternoon in the trial of a man accused of raping a woman in a Fairchild Air Force Base interrogation room.
Michael W. Fassbender, 32, is charged with three counts of aggravated first-degree rape and one count of second-degree assault with sexual motivation.
Prosecutors say the alleged Oct. 20 attack was “committed with deliberate cruelty," and Fassbender “demonstrated an extreme lack of remorse,” according to court documents.
Fassbender is accused of raping a woman after meeting her though an online dating service and dining at an Airway Heights restaurant.
The two reportedly drank a bottle of wine before Fassbender showed her torture devices and took her into a room, “where he told her he was such a good interrogator, that he could get information out of anybody,” documents allege. Fassbender is accused of choking the woman into unconsciousness and slapping her during separate sexual assaults in the interrogation room that lasted for “an extended period of time,” according to court documents.
Fassbender is on leave from his job as a civilian instructor at Fairchild’s survival school, where he is employed through SERE Solutions, a Spokane-based company that provides contracted instructors.
Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen is presiding over the trial, which is expected to last five days.
Dec. 4: Rape suspect faces more charges
Nov. 3: Out on bail, accused rapist pleads not guilty
Oct. 21: Man accused of rape at Fairchild Air Force Base