The 54-year-old woman was thumbing a ride on a March afternoon in 2018 when, finally, a boxy black SUV pulled up.
A muscular young man with short curly hair sat behind the wheel, tattooed from his wrists to his shoulders. He agreed to give her a ride toward Encinitas, California, just north of San Diego. They made small talk along the way – but then seemingly out of nowhere, his demeanor changed, the woman would later remember.
Point-blank, he threatened to rape her, and then said, “and if you say anything, I will kill you,” according to prosecutors.