NEW CITY, N.Y., Aug. 24 -- A paroled killer who defended himself against charges he repeatedly raped and beat a 55-year-old woman was convicted Thursday in Rockland County Court. Jurors deliberated for just two hours before finding Reginald McFadden guilty of grabbing the woman on Sept. 21, 1994 as she took out her garbage, and then subjecting her to a terrifying, five-hour ordeal. After the verdict, the woman, Jeremy Brown, was jubilant and thanked and hugged jurors. 'I think it's crazy we spent all this time and all this money...and it was so obvious,' Brown said. 'Is there justice?' she added. 'I'd like to see him tortured like I was.' Earlier in the trial she testified that McFadden raped her three times, beat her, stole her jewelry, and then stuffed her into a sleeping bag and took her on a car ride to automated teller machines in an effort to drain her bank account. 'You knocked me unconscious,' the South Nyack, N.Y., woman told McFadden as he grilled her in the courtroom on Aug. 3. 'I've been thinking about what you did to me for 10 months.' Throughout the three-week trial, Reginald McFadden claimed he was a victim of mistaken identity and was being targeted in a terrorist plot. At the trial, witnesses testified that the victim's jewelry was in McFadden's possession when he was arrested. And investigators say a photograph of McFadden was taken at an automatic teller machine, showing him trying to draw money from the victim's account.
McFadden, 42, was released from a Pennsylvania prison last year after serving 24 years for killing a grandmother. Authorities say he quickly resumed his criminal ways,and he is awaiting trial on charges of killing two other people since his release. Law enforcement officials have called him a serial killer. Taking a cue from convicted Long Island Rail Road gunman Colin Ferguson, McFadden fought to be able to defend himself in court, ignoring advice from his legal advisors and the judge. During his opening statement, he said 'I'm in a web of suspicion that only me, with God's help, can get me out of.' When he testified in his own defense, McFadden did not deny having the victim's jewelry, but said the members of a Muslim organization had given him the rings and necklaces so he could pawn them to raise money for the Muslims in Bosnia. During cross-examination, prosecutors got McFadden to admit that when he was asked for hair samples during the investigation, he once shaved his entire body and another time covered his body with feces to thwart investigators. 'I was under a lot of stress,' McFadden said in explanation.
