A trial began Tuesday for one of the five Canyon Lake residents accused in the brutal kidnapping, rape, torture and stabbing of a 39-year-old woman.
A deputy testified in the trial of Kayla Lardieri, 18, one of the accused assailants, that the victim "looked like the walking dead" when she found her after the December 2013 attack.
She said the victim was hiding in a car. She was naked and had suffered seven stab wounds. She also had cuffs around her ankles that had dug into her flesh.
The victim also took the stand Tuesday to face one of her suspected captors. She said she was kidnapped, stabbed, tortured with a stun gun and gagged with a tennis ball.
During court, the jury saw pictures of her wounds, including an incomplete 'K' carved into her back.
An inmate took the stand and testified that one of the suspects recorded the crime on his iPhone. The inmate said he could see Lardieri stabbing the victim and another suspect slashing her throat. They then left her for dead.
The victim said she escaped through a window with her feet cuffed. She got into a nearby car and honked the horn until help arrived.
Lardieri's trial was scheduled to continue Wednesday.
