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Polish death metal band members plead not guilty to charges of rape, kidnapping

Rafal Piotrowski, 31, a member of the Polish metal band Decapitated, appears before Superior Court Judge John Cooney, Friday, Oct. 20, 2017, in Spokane, Wash. The final two members of the Polish metal band Decapitated had bail set at $100,000 each Friday on rape and kidnapping charges after they were arrested for the gang-rape of a woman on their tour bus following a show last summer. (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)
By Jonathan Glover jonathanglover22@gmail.com

All four members of the Polish death metal band Decapitated pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping and rape in court Tuesday.

Communicating through a Polish translator, Waclaw Kieltyka, 35, Michal Lysejko, 27, Rafal Piotrowski, 31, and Hubert Wiecek, 30, spent about an hour during their arraignment hearing with their four private attorneys entering their pleas and ironing out a date for trial.

The four are accused of brutally raping a girl after their show in downtown Spokane on Aug. 31. The woman told police she was forced against her will to perform sex acts on at least two of the men until all four took turns raping her.

The band members were arrested in Los Angeles County on Sept. 9 in connection with the crime and began the extradition process Oct. 2. Kieltyka and Lysejko were charged with rape in Spokane County on Oct. 13. Piotrowski and Wiecek on Oct. 20.

Steve Graham, Kieltyka’s attorney, pushed for a trial date of Dec. 18, which was granted by Superior Court Judge Annette Plese. Graham said he was excited for his client to have his day in court so that he could be back home in time for Christmas.

“It’s hard for me to be patient when I know these guys are innocent,” he said. “We just want to get in front of a jury of 12 people as soon as we can.”

All four members will have the same trial date.

Graham said after the hearing that, as he continues to work on the case, that’s he’s interesting in hearing from anyone who was present at the venue and who had any video of it to contact his law office.