Thursday, September 23, 1999 Older Editions

Man sought in murder attempt

By Neil Fater

The woods near the Andover Country Club was the scene of what police are calling an attempted murder late Monday night, after a man allegedly clubbed a Lawrence woman half to death with a tree limb.

"She's in intensive care, and all we know right now is she has a fractured skull and internal bleeding," says Det. Sgt. Don Pattullo. "She may be moved out of ICU today (Wednesday) so we're hoping to talk with her more in depth later."

Police said the 33-year-old Lawrence woman was abducted from South Broadway in Lawrence around 10:30 p.m. Monday. She was dragged into a tan Toyota by a man described by her as a black male, about 25 years old, nearly 6 feet in height, wearing a dark shirt and jeans.

"She said she was walking (to a friend's house) and he was standing on the sidewalk," says Pattullo. "He just grabbed her. Once in the car, he held her head with her hair, against the door."

The woman told police she had never seen the man before.

The man drove up a dirt road in Andover behind the Andover Country Club. Police say they believe he intended to sexually assault the woman, but no sexual assault occurred.

"There was a confrontation and she tried to get away," says Pattullo.

He says the man hit the woman in the head with a four-foot-long tree branch and took some of her belongings.

"He assaulted her with a broken tree branch. She played dead and he took off," says Pattullo.

Detectives say the woman probably lost consciousness for a time. When she came to early Tuesday morning, she made her way through the woods to a phone and called for help. Police received the call at 4:47 a.m. Tuesday.

Detectives Pattullo and Randy Peterson talked with the woman at her hospital Tuesday morning, and hoped to speak with her again Wednesday after the Townsman went to press. For now, they have no leads.

"We're hoping somebody might recognize that description (of the man) and give us a call," says Pattullo.