URBANA — Over the course of an hours-long interview James R. Hill gave to Champaign police on April 20, 2023, he repeatedly denied ever abusing or raping the woman he handcuffed in his truck cab the night before.
Hill, 55, of Medon, Tenn., told detectives that he and the woman arranged through an online service to meet up April 19 in a parking lot in west Champaign, and she agreed to have sex for $150 and consented to being handcuffed after they discussed kinks.
But he said when he later couldn’t find the key to the handcuffs, she started screaming at him and bit him on the hand, so he pushed her out of his cab naked, threw out all her belongings and drove off. Police later took her to Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana.
The woman testified Monday at Hill’s trial at the Champaign County Courthouse in Urbana that Hill put a gun to her head, asked her if she’d ever been abducted before and informed her that he was going to keep her for a couple days before he killed her.
Confronted by detectives last spring, Hill said those claims were untrue and maintained he had “no idea” where the bruises officers found on the woman’s face came from.
“I did not hit her; I didn’t abuse her,” Hill said. “You know, If I could do things again, to fix it, I would, with her. For one, not handcuff her. That’s for one. And not throw her out, but she was screaming, screaming in my ear.”
A jury watched excerpts of that interview Wednesday, the third day of Hill’s trial on four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault with a firearm.
The victim testified that she arranged to meet a truck driver — whom she identified in court as Hill — on April 19 to exchange oral sex for $80. Once she was in his truck, she said, Hill allegedly threw her phone out his window, beat her, put duct tape on her mouth and raped her in the vagin* and anus.
Afterwards, Hill told her he lost the key to the handcuffs when he shoved the “last girl” off a cliff, the woman testified.
Hill corroborated to police that he arranged to meet the victim around 4 or 5 p.m. near a bar in west Champaign, drove to a gas station on North Mattis Avenue and threw her phone out of his cab.
But he told detectives he threw the woman’s phone out because she told him that her boyfriend was a football player with two bodyguards and a phone that mirrored her own, so he could supposedly see their text exchange and track them.
Hill said “I can’t believe” the victim said he raped her as he believed the sex was consensual and said he only choked her because she asked him to. He said he showed the woman that he had a handgun while the two talked casually about security devices but did not threaten her with it.
Hill said the “fiasco” started when he realized he had accidentally lost the key to the handcuffs. He got bolt cutters from a nearby truck driver around 8 p.m. but was unable to cut the lock and didn’t think to cut the chain between the two metal cuffs, Hill told the detectives.
He drove to a nearby store to try to get a key, but the store was closed, Hill said. He said he tried to use a drill to break the handcuffs, but that didn’t work and the woman cried all night, Hill said.
During the proceeding hours, he said, the victim never asked to leave the truck and the two discussed calling the police but agreed that wasn’t a good idea for fear of getting arrested for engaging in prostitution.
The victim testified that Hill kept her Calvin Klein underwear and kicked her out of the truck without any of her belongings. Hill denied those claims, though police later found Calvin Klein underwear in his truck.
The state called three other women to the stand Tuesday who all said they had a similar experience as the victim. No charges have been filed locally in the other alleged victims’ cases, as they occurred in other states.
One woman from Missouri testified that she was walking along a highway in Tennessee on Oct. 6, 2021, when a man whom she identified in court as Hill pulled over and offered to give her a ride.
After she got in his cab, Hill eventually choked her, hit her, raped her and said he was going to kill her before dropping her off at an exit, she testified. A police officer later picked her up and a hospital nurse documented hickeys on her neck and bruises on her legs.
A woman from Jackson, Tenn., testified that she was working at a truck stop in August 2019 when she used an online service to arrange oral sex with a man for money. She said the man wanted “rape fantasy” rough sex, which she told him she was not interested in.
The woman said after she got in the man’s cab, she agreed to have her hands tied with tape. The oral sex was consensual at first, but the man refused to stop when she tried to pull away and went on to rape her, she testified.
The man then took her belongings, including her underwear, and kicked her in the face to push her out of the truck, she testified. A forensic analyst testified on Wednesday that samples taken from that woman’s face the day of the alleged assault showed strong support for Hill’s DNA.
A third woman from Indiana said she was panhandling Oct. 5, 2017, near Interstate 465 in Indianapolis when a man whom she identified in court as Hill hollered at her to come with him to his truck to get a drink.
The woman said she was soaked from rain, so she took off her hoodie after getting into his cab. She said Hill told her to take off the rest of her clothes, and when she said no, he punched her in the face four to five times and choked her.
The woman testified that she then complied and took off her clothes, and Hill told her he would shoot her in the back if she tried to run. She said she never saw a gun, but Hill bound her hands with a belt and taped a sock over her mouth, then started driving. Eventually, she testified, he unbound her, removed the sock and told her he wanted her to perform a sexual act on herself with a hand brush and give him oral sex, which she did.
Later, she said, while she was in a convenience store with Hill, she mouthed the word “Help” to the cashier. That clerk testified Wednesday that she called police after seeing a young woman mouth “Help” while in line behind a man she identified in court as Hill.
A forensic analyst testified that samples taken from a hairbrush found in Hill’s truck in the alleged 2017 incident showed strong support for the Indiana woman’s DNA. Police eventually pulled Hill over, and officers documented bruises on the woman’s face and marks around her wrists.
During cross-examination, the Missouri woman and the Indiana woman denied having consented to have sex with Hill for money. The woman from Tennessee denied having agreed to engage in intercourse beyond oral sex for money.
Hill faces 21 to 90 years in prison if he convicted of all four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault with a firearm, an enhanced Class X felony. Closing arguments are set to take place today.
