GUILTY NY - Iver Phallen charged in kidnap, torture of 3 women, Lewiston, 28 Sept 2014

The victim woke up in her car parked in Buffalo, not knowing how she had gotten there.

But she remembered all too clearly the horrific abuse she had just survived, allegedly at the hands of a Lewiston man now charged with a long list of felonies, from first-degree kidnapping to aggravated sexual abuse and obstruction of airway, according to police.

Iver J. Phallen, 67, a retired businessman, used ropes, handcuffs “and other devices” to bind, choke, beat and abuse the 24-year-old Niagara County woman over a period of about 20 hours, police said. And he told the victim he had brutalized other women in the same way.

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The two made plans together after meeting at her workplace, the Colonie Lounge in Buffalo, last Thursday. However, “It got to the point where it was no longer consensual,” said Lt. Kevin Reyes of the New York State Police.

“It was along the lines of sadomasochism, BDSM-type situation where there was physical injury that was incurred by her,” explained Lewiston Police Sgt. Frank Previte. “All of this was against her will and without her consent.”

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Police seemed shaken by the events that allegedly took place in the townhouse. “In a day and age filled with scary individuals, this person tops the charts,” said the law enforcement source.

Authorities are especially concerned that there may be more victims, and Lewiston police are expected to release more information today about the crimes in the hopes of finding them.

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A Niagara County man was named in a 122-count indictment accusing him of the repeated strangulation and kidnapping of two women...

They are not releasing the indictment but many details came out in court, including how he told women he had done this before and even killed. He was a note taker according to prosecutors, who said they found a yellow page note titled “Wednesday,” with a list of four names of “next targets”...

Wydysh says Phallen’s wife had been staying at the couple’s home in DeFuniak Springs, Florida in recent weeks and seemed to have no idea that he would be capable of what he’s accused of or that her husband had an IRA worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Prosecutors said he was tapping into that to lure young women from strip clubs to his home.

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Iver J. Phallen, already accused of abducting and sexually abusing two women, now faces additional charges involving a third victim...

An additional 87 charges of sexually motivated kidnapping and assault of at least one other victim on March 30-31 have been added to the 122 charges filed in October involving two other women...

Police sources have told The Buffalo News they believe there may be as many as 20 other victims. And the 24-year-old woman in the September incident, who prompted the charges against Phallen, said he boasted of torturing other women and accidentally killed some of them.

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The judge in the case of Iver J. Phallen, the man accused of torturing and sexually assaulting three young women in his Lewiston condominium last year, said Monday she is setting aside three months for the trial, even though she wants the indictments against Phallen edited down...

Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon scheduled the trial for Sept. 8 and told the attorneys, “I have set aside three months. That’s not facetious”...

Sheldon said Phallen would continue to be jailed without bail.

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The 24-year-old North Tonawanda woman, identified in the case as "Victim 1," told police that she had been restrained with ropes, handcuffs and other devices, then beaten, strangled, hung with a noose and hoisted to the ceiling of a room in the home by some sort of electrical device...

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Sorting through more pieces of notebook paper, the investigators found a page with Victim 1's name and phone number.

Meticulous in his preparation, investigators said that directly underneath Victim 1's name, Phallen had written "a script as to what he would say" to lure her to his home.

In his preparation notes, Phallen even included a reminder to buy apple juice. Victim 1 told police that during her captivity, Phallen repeatedly offered her apple juice to drink...

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As DiPasquale and Nigrelli began to sort through the other papers on top of and beneath the legal pad, they found more notes with headings like "Wednesday Action Plan" and "Next Targets." Underneath the "Next Target" heading, police found the names and phone numbers of four women.

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Sheriff James Voutour confirmed that Iver Phallen was found in his cell after trying to "harm himself."

"A corrections officer was checking on him and found he had hurt himself," Voutour said. "(The officer) then immediately called for medical care."

Phallen was rushed to a nearby hospital. He was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday night, under guard by Sheriff's deputies.

Voutour said he didn't believe Phallen's injures were life-threatening...

Phallen reportedly used a "metal object" to try to slash his wrists.

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One of Phallen’s defense attorneys, James Grable, has suggested that the victims were paid thousands of dollars to engage in “bondage, sadomasochism (BDSM) and prostitution.”
Police investigators and prosecutors have said that while the women may have initially agreed to meet Phallen, they were then terrorized and told that he had killed other victims. Investigators have never confirmed that Phallen killed anyone.

Investigators have characterized Phallen’s townhouse as a “house of horrors.” A search of the home turned up a nearly sound-proof room filled with a wide range of sexual torture devices, including some that Phallen himself had apparently “invented.”

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With two of his victims sitting in the courtroom looking on, Iver Phallen pleaded guilty Friday to three of the 209 charges contained in a grand jury indictment that accused him of kidnapping, torturing and sexually abusing three young women in 2014...

Phallen, 68, pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree assault in an attack on a North Tonawanda woman on Sept. 25 and 26, 2014, a charge of first-degree assault in an attack on a second North Tonawanda woman on July 31, 2014 and a charge of second-degree assault in an attack on a third woman on March 30 and 31, 2014.

In return for his plea, prosecutors recommended that Phallen be sentenced to 14 years in prison.

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Since Phallen didn’t plead guilty to any sex crimes, he won’t be a registered sex offender when he is released from prison.

His time in the Niagara County Jail since his arrest nearly 15 months ago counts toward his sentence, and the soonest he would be eligible for parole is at age 79, after serving 85 percent of the 14 years.

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