A Minnesota man who was convicted in absentia of rape and kidnapping after he vanished during his trial, jumped to his death from a highway overpass near a Texas airport, officials said Friday.
As reported by The Minnesota Star Tribune, David Powers, 37, of New Auburn, Minn., who was found guilty Tuesday in Washington County District Court in connection with the 2023 assault in Lake Elmo, leapt from a bridge on Wednesday night near the San Antonio International Airport.
Powers Tried to Stop Vehicles, Assaulted a Citizen After Jumping Off Overpass, Succumbed to His Injuries Later in the Hospital
Motorists reported to police that a man, later identified as Powers, jumped off the Jones Maltberger Road overpass and landed on Hwy. Loop 410, police said. Witnesses then saw him "walking on the highway, trying to get vehicles to stop," the police report read.
"A citizen stopped his vehicle to assist, when [Powers] pulled the citizen out of his vehicle and began assaulting the citizen, attempting to take the citizen's vehicle." Officers arrived and detained Powers and had him taken by emergency medical responders to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries, the report continued.
Powers Faced Decades in Prison
Jurors convicted Powers of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and domestic assault by strangulation after he held a woman captive for more than 24 hours in her apartment.
The trail went on for five days. Powers testified during the trial, on April 18, but went missing on Monday, April 21st, the day he was to be cross-examined by the prosecutor and an arrest warrant was issued after he cut off his GPS tracker. Had he been sentenced, Powers would have faced decades in prison.
Powers was Convicted of Raping, Strangulating a Woman He Held Captive in Her Apartment
According to the criminal complaint, sheriff's deputies were called to Powers' apartment just before 9 a.m. May 2, 2023, on a request for a welfare check after the woman failed to report for work.
Deputies arrived and saw the woman screaming for help while frantically trying to open an upper-level window. A man appeared behind her and pulled her back. The deputies forced their way into the apartment and arrested Powers. The deputies said the woman had significant injuries to her neck, a forearm and hands.
She told them that Powers had been staying with her for a few weeks. After they attended a sporting event the previous evening, she left Powers at her apartment during an argument and stayed with friends in a neighboring city.
When she returned early the next morning, she said, Powers physically and sexually assaulted her for three hours. Throughout the attack, he threatened to kill her and destroyed many of her belongings. The woman told deputies she tried to escape but that Powers restrained her and kept her from getting to her cellphone or keys.
