One by one, the women raped by Alphonso Hill faced their attacker.
They told Hill — one of the most prolific rapists in state history — of the unbelievable horror they’ve endured. Of the panic attacks that come at night. Of the suicidal thoughts.
Standing in Baltimore County Circuit Court on Wednesday, the victims broke down into tears and then, one by one, they turned to the woman who helped catch Hill, hugged her and thanked her.
“I’m grateful for learning of the strength of the women who stand beside me today,” said one of Hill’s victims, a former Johns Hopkins University nurse. “Most of all, I’m grateful for Laura Neuman, who I hold in the highest esteem.”
It was Neuman who for two decades fought to get detectives to pay attention to her 1983 rape case. Finally, in 2002, Detective Bernard Holthaus did — and Hill was put behind bars.
“I kept calling and calling,” said Neuman, 43, who was raped in Baltimore. “It was solved 19 years after it happened, but it could have been solved so much sooner. Once I finally got in touch with the right detective, it was solved in three days.”
Hill, 56, was sentenced to 60 years Wednesday for eight rapes he committed in the Towson area from 1978 to 1989.
Hill had already been convicted of seven rapes — including that of Neuman, for which he is serving 16 years behind bars — but on Wednesday admitted to two more: One on Jan. 24, 1984; the other a month later on Feb. 25.
“He’s not denying that he probably did this,” Hill’s attorney, assistant public defender Stanley Robbins, said of the two new guilty pleas. “He just doesn’t remember the facts of these two cases.”
Each case seemed more horrible than the next: Young women threatened by guns and knives. Their lives were ruined, the women said in court.
“Their courage is very large, especially when you compare it to a very small, cowardly man,” prosecutor Jason League said of Hill.
One woman told of how she was walking in Towson when Hill grabbed her from behind and put a gun to her head.
“I was 20 years old. I lived at home with my mom. I was a shy girl,” the woman recalled. “… I’ve never felt a terror so deep.”
After Hill raped her, he robbed her, leaving her only $2.
“I guess that’s what I was worth to him: Two bucks,” she said.
After his victims were finished speaking, Hill gave a tearful apology, addressing them as “ladies.”
“My mother and grandmother would be turning in their graves,” he said of his actions, and referred to himself in his younger years as a “monster.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”
To Laura Neuman, he expressed admiration.
“God bless you, Miss Neuman,” he said.
Before sentencing Hill, Judge Dana Levitz said he couldn’t fathom the motivation for Hill’s crimes.
“I bet Mr. Hill could have been so much more than the monster he was,” Levitz said. “But monster he was.”
Trail of violence
Alphonso Hill pleaded guilty to the following crimes:
» July 18, 1978, at 12:25 a.m. he entered a residence on the 6900 block of Donachie Road and raped a 27-year-old woman at knifepoint.
» Nov. 11, 1978, at 2:45 a.m. he kidnapped and raped a 22-year-old woman at gunpoint on the 6600 block of Collinsdale Road.
» Jan. 7, 1979, at 11:30 p.m. he entered a residence on the 6600 block of Collinsdale Road and raped a 25-year-old woman while implying he had a gun.
» Sept. 7, 1979, at 12:45 a.m. he kidnapped a 24-year-old woman at gunpoint and raped her in a wooded area near Interstate 695 on Dulaney Valley Road.
» June 29, 1983, at 3:36 a.m. he entered a residence on the unit block of Dowling Circle and raped a 32-year-old woman while holding a gun to her head.
» March 14, 1989, at 3:30 a.m. he entered a residence on the unit block of Acorn Circle and raped a 33-year-old woman at knifepoint.
Source: Baltimore County Police Department
