It started out as a friendship, but prosecutors allege it quickly turned into a nightmare kidnapping after Ian Edard Kroe held a 74-year-old woman captive in a hotel for two years, repeatedly raping her and threatening to torture her if she tried to escape.
On Tuesday, 58-year-old Kroe was sentenced to 394 years to life in prison in a disturbing case that San Mateo County Dist. Atty. Stephen Wagstaffe said was unlike anything he or his prosecutors had seen before. He was convicted Feb. 20 of 33 felony counts.
“It just started out as a friendship with the victim,” Wagstaffe said, “then suddenly this guy turns into a beast.”
Kroe, who lived in Minnesota, became friends with the victim in 2016 after his mother died and she reached out to offer her condolences, according to a statement from the San Mateo County district attorney’s office. Prosecutors did not explain what relationship the victim had to Kroe’s mother.
At one point, Kroe flew to New Mexico, where the victim lived, and the two started what would become a four-year-long road trip along the West Coast, Belmont Police Cpl. Brian Vogel told the Palo Alto Daily Post.
Officials said the relationship was not romantic. The victim was not identified by prosecutors.
Kroe’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Then in August 2020, Kroe began to hold the woman prisoner in a Hyatt hotel in Belmont, repeatedly raping her and forcing her to perform sexual acts.
According to prosecutors, Kroe threatened not just to kill her if she tried to escape but also said he would torture her for weeks before killing her.
Kroe took over the woman’s finances, drained her bank accounts and refused to let her out of the hotel room, according to prosecutors.
The woman told Kroe repeatedly she wanted to go back home to New Mexico, but he refused to let her free.
In 2021, according to the statement, she broke her ankle and Kroe refused to get her medical treatment despite the fact that she was in intense pain.
In August 2022, the victim secretly contacted a friend in New Mexico. The friend called authorities, and Belmont police discovered her in the hotel room.
According to prosecutors, the woman was found naked, with several bruises on her body, a broken finger, and unable to move on her own.
Kroe faced multiple felonies, including intentional infliction of torture, 10 counts of forcible sodomy, felony threats, and false imprisonment.
Wagstaffe said it was unclear what led to the disturbing crimes after the two had developed a years-long friendship. He pointed out that Kroe had no serious encounters with law enforcement before he was arrested in this case.
“Nothing that would give a sign, or tell you to watch out,” he said.
But Wagstaffe described Kroe as a “master manipulator” who tried to delay the trial with antics such as faking medical emergencies on several occasions.
At multiple times, including during sentencing, Kroe said he was feeling chest pains and believed he was having a heart attack.
“He would say he can’t go on,” he said. “For him, it was just game playing.”
At one point, Kroe said he was having a heart attack and was treated by a jail nurse. He was given pain medication, but he didn’t seem to be suffering from a medical emergency.
“He truly does believe he’s the victim,” Wagstaffe said.
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