By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
Two Fort Hays State University students who accompanied Fernando Insaurralde Cantero, 21, Paraguay, through the women’s section of a dorm building testified on the second day of a jury trial that began Monday.
Testimony from both men painted a picture of a suspect that had little respect for his fellow female classmates as he traveled floor-to-floor looking for “girls.”
Cantero pled not guilty on charges of suspicion of rape, aggravated criminal sodomy and aggravated burglary on Dec. 10.
Brandon Mitchell, 21, Wichita, was the first of two students who said he accompanied Cantero during the early morning of Sept. 20, 2015, to testify as a witness in the state’s case against Cantero.
Mitchell, who lived near Cantero in the dorms at the time of the incident, said he first saw Cantero around 1 a.m. in the dorm lobby, although he testified he had been drinking on the night of the incident and does not remember the night well.
While he testified he knew Cantero, he said he would only call him an acquaintance and was closer with another student who also testified in court Tuesday — Joseph Herrington, 19, Minneola.
Herrington testified that around 2 a.m. he met Cantero and Mitchell on the floor of their dorm room and decided to look for others students still awake.
Then the three men traveled floor by floor through the women’s section of the dorm building, ultimately stopping on the floor of the alleged victim.
When asked by Crystalyn Oswald, Assistant Ellis County Attorney, if they were looking specifically for women, Mitchell said, “I’m sure that was probably part of the idea.”
After arriving on the alleged victim’s floor, Mitchell said he did not go into the hallway, instead, he watched from the end of the hall as Cantero and Herrington went room-to-room looking for people to “hang out.”
During his testimony Herrington, who said he was friends with Cantero, said Cantero was opening doors to female dorm rooms if they were not locked, sometimes without knocking.
The pair visited the room of the alleged victim twice but initially moved on after Cantero found her asleep on top of her bedding, fully dressed. Herrington said he did not see the alleged victim during this first visit.
But he would soon get another chance, according to testimony
As the pair continued checking doors throughout the floor, Cantero opened another door on the floor finding two women awake.
Herrington said he knew one of the women and that she seemed surprised by the visit, so he reassured her that they were only looking for people to hang out with. The pair then left after being told by the women they were going to bed.
Both men then made their way back to the room of the alleged victim.
Cantero once again opened the door, according to Herrington, and after taking a drink from a water bottle filled with vodka in the room, approached the alleged victim, whispered something in her ear, then they began “pretty passionately kissing.” Testimony from FHSU Police Department Officer Joshua Fleenor yesterday indicated Cantero did not know the alleged victim.
He then said he thought Cantero closed the door soon after.
Herrington said he never entered the room and did not have a clear view of the girl, as Cantero was in front of him. He did, however, testify he could see she was fully clothed at that time and agreed that in an earlier police report he might have said he thought she was passed out from drinking. Mitchell also testified Herrington did not enter the room.
Mitchell said Herrington then approached him at the end of the hallway and told him they were kissing and should go. The two men then testified they went downstairs.
The trial is set to resume at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.