A 24-year-old Rock Springs man has been sentenced to 12-20 years in prison by Sweetwater County District Judge Clark Stith for kidnapping his girlfriend in a case involving days of beatings, razor-blade cuts and stabbings with a kitchen fork.
Jake Thomas Canestrini pleaded guilty to kidnapping and two counts of aggravated assault under a plea agreement that also calls for seven years of supervised probation after his prison term.
During sentencing Tuesday, Stith imposed two additional five- to eight-year prison terms for the aggravated assaults, suspending them in favor of consecutive probation terms of five years and two years. Canestrini received credit for 141 days already served.
The agreement, filed Oct. 23, requires Canestrini to have no contact with the woman or her family while incarcerated or on probation. He also agreed never to contest renewal of the circuit court protection order she obtained against him.
The parties modified the deal at Tuesday’s hearing, changing the counts to which Canestrini would plead guilty.
Instead of kidnapping and two counts of aggravated assault involving attempts to cause bodily injury with a deadly weapon, he admitted kidnapping, one aggravated assault involving an attempt to cause bodily injury with a deadly weapon and another involving a threat to use a deadly weapon.
The rest of the agreement remained unchanged, according to Stith’s order, filed Wednesday.
Seven remaining counts were dismissed: one aggravated assault charge, strangulation of a household member, interference with a peace officer, three counts of domestic battery and cruelty to animals.
'I Will F***ing Murder You'
The case began with the woman’s account of what happened after her parents left town May 30.
She and Canestrini had been together for about three years and were living at her parents’ Rock Springs home.
Shortly after the parents left, she told investigators, Canestrini threw her to the ground multiple times and would not let her leave.
Rock Springs Police Officer Tiffany Harris wrote in an affidavit supporting the original charges that he repeatedly hit her in the head.
When the woman tried to get up and run, “Canestrini would yank her by the hair to keep her down,” Harris wrote.
On June 2, Canestrini called the woman’s employer and said she would not be coming to work.
The woman described assaults involving a razor blade, a kitchen fork and a knife.
She told investigators Canestrini used the razor to cut her thighs, hips, stomach and arm. She also reported being stabbed in the upper back and buttock with the fork.
During another confrontation, she said, he held a kitchen knife against her throat.
“I will f***ing murder you,” he told her, the affidavit says.
The woman described being strangled multiple times, with moments when she could not breathe and feared she would die.
At one point, Canestrini told her he loved her and “did not want to do this but because she was being a bitch to him, she deserved the punishment,” Harris wrote.
His threats extended beyond the woman herself.
“I will murder your cat. I will murder your f***ing family if you get the cops involved,” he allegedly told her. “I will wait 20 years so I can kill you.”
Bruises, Cuts, Concussion
Investigators documented injuries across much of the woman’s body.
The affidavit described photographs showing injuries to her face, arms, shoulders, legs and knees, along with dried blood on her lips.
Other photographs showed cuts on her stomach, thighs and hips, puncture wounds she attributed to the fork, and long scratches down her back.
Medical records referenced in the affidavit showed a physician advised her she had suffered a concussion.
The woman also described violence against her cat.
She told investigators Canestrini picked up the animal and was “squeezing the f*** out of him.” When the cat cried out, she begged him to stop.
He responded by “picking the cat up by the throat and slamming it to the floor,” the affidavit states.
“I will treat this cat however the f*** I want,” she reported him saying.
The animal cruelty and strangulation charges were among those dismissed under the plea agreement.
Arrested
The woman told investigators she eventually escaped by waiting for Canestrini to fall asleep.
Before detectives arrived to execute a search warrant at the home, neighbors reported seeing Canestrini leave on foot carrying a duffel bag, the affidavit states.
Inside, investigators recovered a kitchen fork, a knife and items believed to contain blood evidence.
Detectives also noticed a strong odor of bleach in one of the bathrooms.
Canestrini was later spotted riding in a vehicle registered to his father. Officers stopped the vehicle, and he identified himself and was taken into custody.
He initially pleaded not guilty in district court, and his case had been scheduled for a Nov. 2 jury trial.
Instead, he returned to court Nov. 3 for the change of plea and sentencing hearing. Deputy County and Prosecuting Attorney Augustus Wagner appeared for the state, and attorney Joseph A. Hampton represented Canestrini.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
