Man on the run accused of torturing, raping woman turns himself in

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — After nearly two months on the run, a man accused of keeping a woman chained in a basement for fours days showed up at a courthouse Thursday morning and surrendered to one of the first law enforcement officers who passed.

That officer happened to be Sgt. Eric Gundle, a supervisor with the Marion County Sheriff's judicial enforcement division. He said he had no idea that Maurice Nelson was one of Marion County's most wanted fugitives.

Gundle, who wasn't on duty yet, parked his vehicle in front of the City County Building at about 7:30 a.m. and was going inside to grab some paperwork when a man who appeared to be a pastor approached.

"He stated he had somebody by his vehicle who was wanted on a warrant and wanted to turn himself in," Gundle said in a telephone interview with IndyStar Friday.

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Gundle followed the pastor and put handcuffs on Nelson. Nelson's face seemed familiar, Gundle said, but the name did not ring a bell.

It wasn't until much later, like the next morning when the arrest was being reported by the news media, that Gundle realized who he had arrested.

Nelson did not say where he had been hiding out over the last seven weeks, Gundle said.

"He actually didn't say much of anything," Gundle said.

Marion County prosecutors say Nelson, 28, abducted and tortured a 23-year-old woman and held her prisoner from July 10 to 14 in the basement of a Indianapolis home.

A neighbor called police after hearing the woman's screams for help about 6:20 p.m. July 14, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Marion Superior Court.

Officers cut through a padlock, forced open the front door found the woman in the basement. She was nude, handcuffed, shackled and chained around the neck to a pole and around the ankles to a floor bolt.

The woman told police she had met Nelson through a telephone chat line. He picked her up at a hotel and she agreed to go home with him.

They started having sex when, prosecutors say, Nelson stopped and sprayed her with pepper spray. Nelson, according to court documents, overpowered the woman and forced her into the basement, where prosecutors say he repeatedly threatened, beat and raped the victim over the next four days.

Prosecutors charged Nelson with three counts of rape, criminal confinement, three counts of battery and other crimes. An initial hearing is scheduled for Sept. 6.

Follow Vic Ryckaert on Twitter: @vicryc