MURRIETA: Marine to stand trial on torture charge

May 17, 2013 07:59 PM PDT May 17, 2013 08:19 PM PDT MURRIETA: Marine to stand trial on torture charge MURRIETA: Marine to stand trial on torture charge Gunnery Sgt. Anthony Rollins, 33, is accused of beating his girlfriend Dec.1, leaving her with skull fractures and amnesia, authorities said SARAH BURGE/CONTRIBUTED IMAGE Anthony Rollins, 33, of Murrieta Attorney, sits in court Friday, May 17, during his preliminary hearing more at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley. He is charged with torture and domestic violence. 1 WEBLINK RELATED: Murrieta Attorney cell-phone pocket-dial records evidence of assault A judge held a Marine to answer on domestic violence and torture charges Friday, May 17, after listening to a disturbing voicemail from a cell-phone "pocket dial" that recorded evidence of an assault on the defendant's girlfriend. Gunnery Sgt. Anthony Rollins, 33, who was arrested in February, has pleaded not guilty and is being held with bail set at $5 million. Testifying during Rollins' preliminary hearing at the Southwest Justice Center in French Valley, Leah Elmquist, 30, said she suffered skull fractures, amnesia, bleeding on the brain and hearing loss and that she can't remember the Dec. 1 attack. On the witness stand, Elmquist, who is 5-foot-1 and weighs 94 pounds, averted her eyes from Rollins, who was sitting across the courtroom in shackles and orange jail clothes. "I remember him cutting the heads off the teddy bears that he had given me," she said, describing a brief memory as she lay in bed that night. At one point, she said, she recalls lying on the floor in pain. "My head hurt and I couldn't move and I was sick," she said. Elmquist woke up the morning of Dec. 1, vomiting with a severe headache. She had spent the evening out with friends during which Rollins had sent her a vulgar, angry text message. Rollins told her she had gotten drunk and fallen down the stairs. Despite the severity of her injuries, she didn't receive medical care until Dec. 3. After days in bed, she asked Rollins to take her to a hospital. Elmquist said she began to suspect Rollins had assaulted her, but she was in extreme pain and not thinking clearly for weeks because of her injuries. "I felt very embarrassed and stupid that I didn't know what happened," she said. On Dec. 15, her mother took Elmquist and her 7-year-old daughter to stay with her in Nebraska for about six weeks while she recovered. Elmquist discovered the Dec. 1 voicemail from Rollins on her cell phone while she was there. Though it confirmed her suspicions, she didn't immediately call the police. "I was scared of reporting it, and that nothing would happen," she testified, starting to cry. Elmquist said she had called the police when Rollins abused her in the past, but nothing came of it. "He would just spend a few days in jail and come home," she said. Elmquist said she feared he might hurt her more. Once, she said, Rollins hit her in the face with a remote control, breaking a tooth. She finally went to Murrieta Attorney police Feb. 2. Elmquist, who had been in the Navy for 10 years, said she listened to an inspirational talk about domestic violence and was realizing the full effect of her injuries — she couldn't do her work and had to drop out of classes at UCR. "It felt like he had taken a lot of things from me," she said. When police arrested Rollins Feb. 26, they confronted him with the voicemail, in which Elmquist can be heard screaming and crying. He gave several explanations. Initially, Det. John Therien testified, Rollins said they were having rough sex. Later, he said, it was an argument in which he was trying to convince Elmquist not to drive while drunk. Follow Sarah Burge on Twitter @sarahkburge or online at blog.pe.com/crime-blotter Latest Headlines
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