By Paul Lewis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 13, 2007; 11:20 AM

BIG CREEK, W.Va., Sept. 12 -- The curtains on the trailer home were closed, a shopping cart of empty beer cans was dumped by the porch and rats scurried across the trash-strewn yard. The yellow police tape attached to the porch rail gave the only hint of the brutal and bizarre crime that authorities allege took place last week in a trailer home here in the southwest corner of West Virginia.

Police said six people, including three women, held a 20-year-old woman captive for at least a week. During that time, the victim, who is black, was beaten, stabbed, raped and tortured, all the while being subject to racial slurs from her white tormentors, police said.

According to court complaints and interviews with law enforcement officials, defendants cut her hair, made her eat dog and rat feces, placed a cable around her neck, poured hot water over her body and forced her to lick blood and drink water from a toilet.

They also told the alleged victim, identified as Megan Williams of Charleston, that she would be killed if she left the property, set in a forlorn stretch of forest. Police said they locked her in a nearby shed filled with broken tools and the rusty frame of a spring mattress.

She was stabbed four times in her left leg. At least one defendant used racial slurs while cutting her ankle with a knife, the documents state, telling her "that's what we do [to black people] around here."

Williams remained listed in stable condition at a hospital Wednesday while the six defendants, described by prosecutors as the "primary actors" in the prolonged attack, were each being held on $100,000 bond.

Interviews with police, prosecutors and residents of this poverty-racked county paint a complicated, disturbing picture of the alleged crime.

Police initially thought Williams, who has learning difficulties, may have been abducted and taken against her will to the trailer, possibly after being contacted on the Internet. The trailer is home to two of the defendants, Frankie Brewster, 49, and her son, Bobby Brewster, 24.

Although officials are still investigating how she arrived at the trailer, and whether two other individuals were involved, it appears likely that she went there after forming a relationship with Bobby Brewster.

Williams was discovered Saturday evening when two sheriff's deputies visited the Brewster trailer after an anonymous tip. Frankie Brewster told the deputies she was alone. But Williams -- bruised, bleeding and partially clothed -- limped toward the door with her arms outstretched, pleading simply, "Help me."

Last week was not the first time she visited the property or was allegedly harmed there. On July 19, court documents indicate, police were called to the trailer because of reports that Williams had been threatened and struck by Bobby Brewster.

On that day, Brewster told the officers he had not seen Williams "for a few days," documents state, but they found her concealed at the back of the premises -- hiding, she told police, from Brewster and his mother, who had just beaten her.

In the July 19 incident, Brewster was charged with domestic assault and battery and giving false information to police. He was released from jail on Aug. 2 after settling his bond, and a court hearing was scheduled for November.

Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham said the latest developments have changed "some of the considerations" relating to the investigation. Clearly there was a "preestablished social relationship" between Brewster and Williams, Abraham said.

The Justice Department announced Wednesday that no federal charges, including hate crimes, would be brought against the six, though FBI officials are assisting in the investigation.

Local prosecutors said others could be charged in the case. They said they are considering whether to file hate crime charges against at least one defendant under state law.

"Race appears, based upon the investigation I've seen so far, to be a contributing factor," Abraham said. "Whether it was the sole motivating factor -- that remains under investigation."

Regardless of how Williams arrived at the property, Abraham added, law enforcement officials do not doubt she was held against her will once she arrived.

All six suspects are well known to Logan County law enforcement officials. Since 1991, they have collectively amassed 108 charges, from public intoxication to battery and wielding a deadly weapon, court records show.

But for most of them, the charges in the Williams case are far more serious than anything they have faced before.

Frankie Brewster has been charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and giving false information during a felony investigation. Her son has been charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and assault during the commission of a felony.

Karen Burton, 46, of Chapmanville has been charged with malicious wounding, battery and assault during the commission of a felony. Her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend -- Alisha Burton, 23, and George A. Messer, 27, both of Chapmanville -- have been charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery. Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts has been charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding.

Williams's distraught family members, by her bedside this week, say they have no idea how she became involved with the suspects, though they believe she was targeted because of her race.

"Her biggest problem: She got too much trust in people. We've been trying and trying, but we can't get that out of her," said her father, Matthew Williams. "You walk down the street, and she'll come up to you like she's known you all her life."