CAPE MAN FOUND GUILTY FOR HIS ROLE IN BRUTAL RAPE

POPLAR BLUFF -- One of two men accused of breaking into a Cape Girardeau apartment last July, attacking a man with a hammer and then taking turns raping the man's girlfriend, was found guilty Tuesday, the Cape Girardeau County prosecutor said.

Shondale Tipler, 20, was found guilty of forcible rape, a felony that carries a punishment of 10 to 30 years in prison or a life sentence, Prosecutor Morley Swingle said.

Tipler and another man prosecutors identified as Demarcus Wright, 19, were alleged to have noticed the woman coming home to her apartment about 4 a.m. on July 24 after a party. The suspects had never known or seen her before, Swingle said.

"They spotted her and thought she was attractive," Swingle said.

The two suspects then came up with a plan to break into the apartment and rape her, the prosecutor said.

The suspects gathered several items from friends for their plan, including latex gloves, a stocking cap, a Halloween mask, a screwdriver and a hammer.

Wearing the mask and stocking cap pulled down covering their faces, the suspects used the screwdriver to pry the door open at about 6 a.m. The woman and her boyfriend were still asleep in bed when their assailants came into their bedroom.

The boyfriend was awakened by two blows to his head with the hammer. It later took several stitches to close his wounds, Swingle said.

"After that he was in no shape to defend himself or her," the prosecutor said.

While one suspect dragged the woman into the bathroom and raped her, Tipler reportedly stood over her boyfriend with the hammer.

Then, the other suspect brought the woman out and encouraged Tipler to rape her. Tipler took her into the bathroom and raped her using the hammer.

He told the court that he had hesitated at first, but he did not want "to look like a punk" in front of the other suspect, Swingle said.

Tipler will be sentenced by Judge Robert Cope on April 18. Since Tipler was on probation for felony cocaine possession and misdemeanor marijuana possession at the time of the rape, this could be taken into account when he is sentenced, Swingle said.

Wright will appear before Judge Fred Copeland in New Madrid on April 13 for trial.