Domestic Abuse Defendant Relies on 'Slave' Contract and Victim's Testimony: 'I Like to Be Tied Up'
In an unusual domestic abuse trial now under way in Oklahoma, the defendant is relying on testimony by the victim.
Richard Bryon “Wraith” Wise, 43, should not be found guilty of felony kidnapping and felony and misdemeanor domestic abuse counts, the defense contends, because the Utah woman allegedly handcuffed, choked and beaten by him in an incident early this year consented to this conduct as part of their alternative lifestyle, according to the Oklahoman.
Prosecutors say he attacked Nanette Larsen, now 36, without her consent, because she tried to break up with him after catching him having sex with another woman in a nightclub parking lot.
But Larsen, who is now back together with Wise, says that wasn’t true: Embarrassed to admit to their BDSM (short for bondage and discipline; dominance and submission; and sadism and masochism) lifestyle, she initially lied to authorities about the incident, she testified.
The first exhibit introduced into evidence by the government was a five-page “slave training” contract in which Larsen apparently is described as “property” of her master, Wise. Both signed the agreement, the newspaper reports.
However, Oklahoma County District Judge Ray Elliott declined defense lawyer Steve Parker’s request to introduce photographs of a half-nude Larsen, bound, finding that they weren’t sufficiently relevant.
Larsen told the jury she enjoys being restrained, and that pain that Wise inflicts during sex is part of their relationship—which is an emotional one as well as a phyiscal one, the newspaper reports.
“It takes a lot of trust to completely give yourself to somebody,” she said. “Part of the joy I get is giving up that control.”
