Suspects raise rape defense

A man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in Airway Heights told police he was “on fire and ready to go” after his girlfriend said she’d been raped by the alleged victim.

“It pretty much put me in a temporary insanity state when your best friend rapes your girlfriend,” said Elijah J. Boxley, 33, according to court documents.

Boxley and his girlfriend, Molly E. Foote, 37, alias McBride, are in Spokane County Jail on $200,000 and $250,000 bond, respectively, after appearing in Superior Court on Friday on charges of first-degree kidnapping and attempted first-degree murder.

Spokane County …

A man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder in Airway Heights told police he was “on fire and ready to go” after his girlfriend said she’d been raped by the alleged victim.

“It pretty much put me in a temporary insanity state when your best friend rapes your girlfriend,” said Elijah J. Boxley, 33, according to court documents.

Boxley and his girlfriend, Molly E. Foote, 37, alias McBride, are in Spokane County Jail on $200,000 and $250,000 bond, respectively, after appearing in Superior Court on Friday on charges of first-degree kidnapping and attempted first-degree murder.

Spokane County sheriff’s sex crimes detectives searched a Trent Avenue motel and a home in the 400 block of West 21st Avenue on Friday and seized clothing and other items as part of an investigation into claims that Boxley’s and Foote’s alleged victim, Michael J. Martin, 46, raped Foote on Tuesday.

She told Boxley on Wednesday that she’d been assaulted, and Boxley arranged to meet Martin at a gas station at 220 S. Hayford Road in Airway Heights. Foote was hiding in the back seat under a blanket and held a knife to Martin’s throat after he entered the car about 3 a.m., police say.

Martin told police he feared for his life and fought with the couple before fleeing the vehicle. He said Boxley ran over his right foot and caused him to fall over and hit his head on the asphalt.

Boxley told police the three lived together for about six months two years ago.

“Foote told (police) she and Eli planned to make sure Martin never did this to another woman again,” police wrote.

But Martin was too big and strong, Foote said, and their plan to subdue him failed.

Police say Foote repeatedly said that “Eli should have just left it alone. Mike is too big and strong for us to think we could have pulled this off.”

Police found a machete, hatchet and several knives in Boxley’s car.

Both Boxley and Foote have previous convictions for felony theft and driving under the influence; Martin, who suffered minor injuries, has several felony convictions for theft. The investigation into the alleged rape is ongoing.