Investigators find 'operating room' in sex torture probe

April 5, 1999
Web posted at: 12:03 p.m. EST (1703 GMT)

ELEPHANT BUTTE, New Mexico (CNN) -- A couple accused of running a sexual torture ring had set up a crude operating room in the trailer where investigators believe they brought their victims, sources said Monday.

The storage trailer next to the mobile home of David Ray and Cindy Hendy was soundproof and contained a gynecological table with stirrups, sources close to the investigation told CNN. Above the table were lights reminiscent of a surgical operating room.

The trailer contained scalpels, alligator clips, a voltage regulator and books on anatomy and serial killers, sources said. Also found inside the trailer were video cameras and a monitor, numerous drawings of restrained women, and photographs of women during what appeared to be torture, the sources said.

Ray, 59, and Hendy, 39, have been charged with dozens of crimes, including the kidnapping, rape and torture of two women. They face preliminary hearings next week, when their attorneys are expected to enter not guilty pleas on their behalf. Bond has been set at $1 million each.

Their arrests came after a bruised and bleeding Albuquerque woman ran to neighbors, wearing only a padlocked metal collar with a chain attached. She claimed she had escaped from the trailer after being electrically shocked, whipped and raped with sexual devices for three days.

A woman from a nearby town came forward with a similar story after the March 22 arrests, leaving people in the desert town of 2,000 shocked and nervous.

"I want out of here. It's all just too bizarre," said Christian Storm, 46, an acquaintance of the second woman.

"It's really opened people's eyes to the fact that this can happen anywhere. People are being more cautious now," he said.

Authorities said they are now trying to determine whether there were more victims and whether any of them may have been killed.

Correspondent Greg Lamotte and Reuters contributed to this report.

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