Jury returns quick guilty verdict in abduction of Washington University law student

Source: St.自存倉 Louis Post-DispatchNov. 01--ST. LOUIS COUNTY --A woman from China who was a second-year law student at Washington University had a harrowing night after leaving a study session with her boyfriend on the campus one night in August 2012.The woman, 23, was abducted by a stranger at knifepoint from a parking garage on campus. He forced her to drive to ATMs for nearly two hours so he could take money from her account.On Wednesday afternoon, a jury in St. Louis County deliberated about 30 minutes before convicting William James Cobbins of the kidnapping and other charges. Cobbins, 23, lives in the 1600 block of Pine Street in the Downtown West neighborhood of St. Louis.The jury recommended, after deliberating an hour more, that Cobbins go to prison for 12 years for kidnapping, eight years for armed criminal action, 10 years for first-degree robbery and four years for the second count of armed criminal action. Sentencing by Judge Kristine Kerr is set for Dec. 5.Authorities say the student had been studying on campus with her boyfriend when she left and walked to her car inside the campus' Snow Way garage. Her boyfriend left separately, about five minutes later.She popped the trunk of her car and put her book bag in the trunk. Armed with a small paring knife, Cobbins shoved her into the driver's seat of her car and told her to be quiet and not to do "anything stupid." He closed the door on her and jumped into the seat behind her. He put the knife to her side and ordered her to drive to the nearest ATM.She was flustered and unfamiliar with where to go, so he told her what turns to make. As she drove, he went through her purse, looking for her bank cards. The first stop was at a Lindell Bank ATM, but Cobbins couldn't get any money there using the woman's debit card. He forced her to drive to the Lindell Marketplace, where he used the card at a stand-alone Bank of America kiosk. He made two withdrawals, for a t迷你倉tal of $1,000, then he forced her to drive around some more.Near Washington Avenue, she saw a police car, and Cobbins put the knife to her side and told her to act normally. They headed back to the kiosk where he'd gotten the cash earlier. But her daily cash-withdrawal limit had been reached and Cobbins couldn't get any more cash. He wiped down the inside of the car and told her not to cancel her debit card before 2 a.m. the next day. He told her he had her driver's license and knew where she lived, and then he left.She drove around until she recognized a pizza parlor and contacted her boyfriend and authorities.The university sent a campus-wide alert describing the incident and increased police patrols. St. Louis County police and the Washington University campus police worked on finding the kidnapper.Tracking use of the victim's card through several steps, Cobbins's name came up. They saw that Cobbins had script tattoos on his left hand and wrist matching the tattoos seen on the surveillance camera at one of the ATMs.In a police lineup, the victim identified Cobbins as her abductor. Police also matched a fingerprint found near the door handle to Cobbins.Cobbins has no prior felony convictions. He does, however, have a prior arrest for robbery and domestic assault in St. Louis city.Prosecutors say the victim, meanwhile, was urged by her family back in China to leave the United States and return home. However, she stuck with college and is to graduate this December. She was not injured in the attack but she told prosecutors that the attack unnerved her, and one example of the lingering impact of the crime is that she tries to avoid using parking garages now.Prosecutors say Cobbins had planned the attack, gotten off MetroLink and walked straight to the parking garage.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at .stltoday.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesmini storage