Victim: The Twenty-something Woman

The most brutal and vicious crime ever to be committed in Brown County, Wisconsin, the home of Lambeau Field and the Green Bay Packers, occurred in August of 2003.

A 26-year-old woman was kidnapped from the parking lot of a downtown Green Bay nightclub. She was driven to a rural area south of the city, and there in a grassy ditch, even though she fought with all her strength, she was repeatedly raped by two Hispanic men, strangled until she passed out, then doused with lighter fluid, set on fire, and left for dead. She managed to stop her flesh from burning by rolling around as she watched the truck go out of sight. Naked and near death, she dragged her charred body to a nearby house for help.

She later testified in court that her attackers laughed, got in their truck, and left the area. She is certain that because she played dead, even though she was on fire and experiencing excruciating pain, they left her, thinking they would get away with their heinous crime. Suffering from second- and third-degree burns over 60% of her body (mostly head, neck, arms, and shoulders), this woman will be horribly disfigured for life.

When descriptions of the two attackers went public, a dairy herd manager of a large farm, Dick Binish, notified police that he recognized both as dairy farm laborers. The grassy ditch on the side of the road where the crime was committed is very near that farm.

Gregorio Morales, then 27, had a wife and three children, and Juan Nieto was 23 or 24 at the time. Binish managed to get Morales to drink a soda, and the bottle was later given to police for DNA testing. Morales fled to New Mexico, where he was arrested about one year after the assault. He turned state's evidence against Nieto, and pleaded no contest to 1st degree reckless injury (reduced from 1st degree intentional homicide), kidnapping, and two counts of sexual assault. He received 50 years.

In December of 2004, police tracked Nieto to DeKalb County, Georgia, where he was living with a brother in an apartment rented out under a third name. Neito was charged with kidnapping, 3 counts of sexual assault, and 1st degree intentional homicide for which he received 70 years.

Court costs for each of the trials amounted to over $250,000, so the county taxpayers had to pay over $500,000 just to put these two monsters in prison. The State will be paying for their keep, along with all their psychiatric counseling, health care, etc.

The victim's last appearance in court had to have been very difficult for her. Heavily dressed for maximum coverage, she said she still suffered from depression and post traumatic stress disorder. There is no closure for this woman, who lives with the terror, disfigurement, and health concerns of one so brutally treated.