A man already facing a potential life sentence on claims he confined and tortured a woman in a Laramie, Wyoming, apartment now faces another felony charge on claims he pressured his victim into recanting her statement.
“Break her will and soul,” are the words Brenceis Jimenez, 41, is accused of texting to an operative from the Albany County Detention Center, in an effort to get a woman to say he wasn’t one of the men who tortured her in an apartment room on July 24.
Jimenez is accused of duct-taping the woman’s mouth and head, punching and choking her and cutting her with a knife because she “disrespected” him, according to an evidentiary affidavit in his kidnapping and assault case.
In a new case filed Wednesday in the Albany County District Court, Jimenez faces allegations that he pressured that same woman into calling his public defender and saying she “made it up” and that “everybody was high.”
The charge of intimidating a witness is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $5,000 in fines.
On Sept. 6, the woman wrote and delivered a letter to Albany County District Court Judge Misha Westby, which read, “Brenceis Jimenez did not do anything or hurt me – he saved me and he should not be locked up,” the court file shows. The woman’s letter says that her head was “messed up” when she made her statement, but that Jimenez was in another room while others hurt her.
‘Break Her Will’
Laramie Police Department Sgt. Sally Dalles obtained about 50 text messages Jimenez had sent, mostly to another woman who was not his victim.
“I need you to go get that girl right now since you won’t answer the damn phone and bring her to the sheriff office to make a statement,” Jimenez texted the second woman, according to the affidavit.
“Hey wanted to let you know that me and home (sic) here are gonna be doing something to break her will and soul for f***ing with my family freedom wife,” reads another text, which the affidavit says Jimenez sent to the second woman. “Tell your friend that ride or die means that!”
When the woman first reported the incident to police July 27, investigators noted that her injuries were consistent with her statement, says the affidavit. They also found a roll of duct tape, some used duct tape with long hair embedded in it, a sledgehammer (which was a weapon the woman said Jimenez had threatened to use on her), and a kitchen knife with a broken blade, police say.
The Others
In the kidnapping and assault case, two other men are charged with Jimenez: 41-year-old Brandon Darrel Warden, and Felix Alexander Carrera, 33, also known as Felix Gallegos.
Carrera’s court file shows an outstanding warrant for his arrest.
Warden struck a plea agreement this month in which he agreed to pleaded guilty to felonious restraint. Both the prosecutor and defense agreed to argue for two years’ probation – with the threat of a three-to-five-year prison sentence if he violates probation.
His sentencing will occur at a later date.
Gallegos punched the woman repeatedly, held her arm so Jimenez could cut it and withheld her phone from her, the affidavit says.
As for Jimenez’s ongoing kidnapping and assault case from the original incident in July, it is pending in Albany County District Court.
He pleaded not guilty Aug. 13 and is scheduled for a March 10 jury trial.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
