The verdict says it all

Hands swollen from where they had ripped off their duct tape bonds, two teen girls told police a harrowing tale last year: a man they knew had kidnapped them and raped them in an underground bunker near their mobile home.

Their account launched a four-day manhunt, led to the arrest of a convicted sex offender and helped pass legislation that would allow the death penalty for some repeat child molesters.

But the case against Kenneth Glenn Hinson unraveled Monday when a jury, after four hours of deliberations, acquitted him of criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping, and assault and battery with intent to kill.

Families of the accusers wept in the courtroom. Surprised prosecutors said they thought enough evidence had been presented to ensure a guilty verdict.

"We are shocked and stunned. We believed Mr. Hinson was guilty as charged. We still believe he is guilty as charged," said Attorney General Henry McMaster, who helped prosecute the case.

Hinson, 48, had maintained his innocence since his arrest. During the six-day trial, he testified that he had consensual sex with both girls just hours before the alleged attack and built the bunker to hide drugs. His attorney picked apart the girls' stories and questioned why Hinson's fingerprints couldn't be found on the duct tape.

The victory for Hinson, who served nine years in prison for raping a 12-year-old girl, is a high-profile defeat for McMaster. As authorities combed the rural northeast corner of South Carolina in the days leading to Hinson's arrest, McMaster blasted his release, saying that if he had been required to serve his full, 20-year sentence, perhaps he would not have been free to rape again.

McMaster was also vocal in his criticism of a trial judge who chose not to recommend that Hinson be committed to a state rehabilitation program for sexually violent predators.

Two committees consisting of state officials, a defense attorney and a judge had recommended that Hinson enter the program. Judge Edward Cottingham - a retired but active judge - rejected arguments that Hinson had a mental or personality abnormality that might lead him to offend again.

The day Hinson was captured, Cottingham said he did not recall Hinson's case specifically but noted that state law requires prosecutors to show probable cause a person will commit another sexual assault.

After the verdict Monday, Hinson lawyer Rick Hoefer said he was pleased with the jury's decision but felt Cottingham was unfairly criticized by prosecutors and the media for his decision.

"They made a big deal and said, if he had been declared a sexually violent predator, this never would have happened. Well, this jury just said this never happened," Hoefer said. "I think somebody ought to acknowledge that Judge Cottingham, who is a good and honorable man, is entitled to an apology."

Hinson still faces three burglary counts in connection with this case, as well as a felony weapons possession charge that could carry a possible life sentence. He was place in federal custody after Monday's verdict was read, but smiled as he was escorted from the court.

"I think the verdict says it all," he said.

Man Allegedly RAMS wife's house with a truck

A north Idaho man accused of ramming his truck into his estranged wife's home Monday after unsuccessfully demanding that she bring him a cigarette has been arrested, police said. No one was injured.

Eric D. Marienau, 48, of Sandpoint, was jailed for investigation of aggravated assault and driving while intoxicated after Coeur d'Alene police officers were called to his wife's residence in this lakeside resort community.

Caroline Marienau, who said she's in the process of getting a divorce, said Eric Marienau parked his full-size Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck next to her house about 7 a.m., police said.

He went to the home's fence and began shouting for her to bring him a cigarette, Caroline Marienau told police. She said he began pounding on her front door, telling her if she didn't come outside with a cigarette that he would return with his truck and ram her house.

"Eric returned a minute later and rammed the front of the house near the garage area at a high rate of speed. He then backed up and rammed the front of the house at least two more times," Police Sgt. Christie Wood said. "The impact forced a 1993 Ford Ranger that was parked inside the garage to be propelled approximately four feet through a wall into the interior of the bedroom."

Eric Marienau was not immediately reachable for comment and it was not known if he was represented by a lawyer.

Nobody was in the bedroom at the time but the house and both vehicles sustained major damage, police said.

There was a gas canister and gas-soaked rag in the bed of the truck, as well as another gas canister in the truck's cab, at the time of the ramming, police said.