Victim's sister: He was definitely the leader

TAMPA -- Both victims of Saturday's rapes in Apollo Beach recognized Rigoberto Moron Martinez as their attacker when shown photographs Wednesday night, the sister of one victim said today.

"He was definitely the leader. The other two were willing to do what he said," said Jacey Laundree, 37, of Peru, N.Y.

Laundree woke her sister up this morning when she heard the news that sheriff's deputies had arrested Martinez in connection with the rapes.

Laundree, who has spoken with her sister several times since Saturday, said the men repeatedly threatened to kill the women before finally letting them go in northern Manatee County.

"I knew I was going to die," the sister, the youngest of two victims, told Laundree.

When the 24-year-old emerged from the Docks bar, she saw the men and first thought they were joking around. Then she realized she was in serious trouble, Laundree said.

"They were waiting for my sister to come out," she said. "They were all over her."

Her sister weighs just 115 pounds, Laundree said, but was tough when her attackers forced her back inside the Docks early Saturday, robbed the restaurant and abducted her and a coworker, beginning a four-hour ordeal that ended with their release not far from Interstate 75.

"She mouthed off to these guys and she never let them know she was scared and she didn't cry. The plan was to kill (the women). They were disorganized. We're very fortunate that they were."

The sister tried to come up with ways to stymie the attackers. At an ATM machine, she refused to give them her PIN number. She told them she had bad credit. She fought with them.

She's still sore but wanted to go back to work Monday, said Laundree, a social worker.

"They aren't going to ruin my life," the victim told Laundree. "No one gets to do that to me."

Investigators haven't let the two victims talk to each other, so that they won't influence each other's recollection of what happened, Laundree said. The women haven't returned home because their stolen purses contained personal information that might endanger them.

She described her sister as "funky and funny," tough but tender.

She fishes so much that friends joke she has gills behind her ears. She's a first mate on a charter boat and would like to get her captain's license.

Now she feels like she has a second chance at life, Laundree said.

Elisabeth Dyer, Times staff writer