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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Final two members of Polish death metal band Decapitated charged with rape, kidnapping in Spokane

By Ryan Collingwood Ryan Collingwood The Spokesman-Review

Rafal Piotrowski and Hubert Wiecek, the lead singer and bassist for the Polish metal band Decapitated, had their first court appearance in Spokane County on Friday for allegedly participating in a gang rape of a woman on their tour bus in Spokane on Aug. 31.

With the aid of a Polish translator, Judge John Cooney communicated the charges of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape to Piotrowski and first-degree kidnapping and third-degree rape to Wiecek.

Waclaw Kieltyka and Michal Lysejko, the band’s bassist and drummer, had their first court appearance in Spokane on Oct. 13. Kieltyka was charged with first-degree kidnapping and second-degree rape and Lysejko was charged with first-degree kidnapping and third-degree rape.

All four men had their bonds set at $100,000. They also aren’t allowed to talk to each other while incarcerated and were forced to surrender their passports to their attorneys.

The band has been in Spokane County Jail after being extradited from California. They were arrested Sept. 9 in Santa Ana in connection with the case and charged on Oct. 12.

Attorney Jeffry Finer, who represents Piotrowski, said the men will be pursuing bail, but are waiting on documents from Poland to “impress the court,” which could take over a week.

“Among this group, there are a number of advanced degrees and zero criminal history,” Finer said.

None of the men has a criminal history in the United States, according to prosecutors, but it’s unknown if they have criminal records in Europe.

Decapitated, a popular band in the death metal genre with over 676,000 Facebook fans and 95,000 Twitter followers, played at The Pin in downtown Spokane on Aug. 31.

According to court documents, two women told police they were invited onto the tour bus following the show. The alleged victim of the rape said that, after talking for some time, she went into the bus bathroom where she was “grabbed and spun around to where she was facing the sink and mirror in the bathroom,” and subsequently raped by each of the members of the band.

The other woman told police that she was able to escape after kicking one of the band members in the groin.