Kidnapping suspect was high, suicidal, sister says

UPDATE: Keith Elson Jr. was high on drugs and suicidal the morning he allegedly kidnapped a clerk from a Cedar Rapids gas station, Elson's sister told The Gazette.

Elson, 54, charged with first-degree kidnapping, pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Linn County District Court. He is accused of taking the 19-year-old clerk at knife point from Kwik Shop, 1001 First Ave. SW, in the early-morning hours of May 17.

Police found the clerk and Elson inside his apartment about seven hours after the abduction. The clerk told police Elson sexually abused her after he kidnapped her from the store, according to a search warrant.

Moments after Tuesday's brief arraignment, Elson and his sister, Vickii Hochstetler, talked as they sat on a bench outside the courtroom.

Hochstetler said Elson “doesn't remember a thing,” about the kidnapping. She said he was high on crack cocaine and had taken multiple medications that morning. He had written letters to his siblings, apologizing for his problems, and scrawled a message about ending his life onto a wall in his apartment, Hochstetler said.

During their conversation, Hochstetler said her brother was concerned that the drugs he bought might have been laced with something else. He was eager to know exactly what was in his system.

“Something just snapped,” said Hochstetler, still emotional from the conversation. “He's not a violent person, only when he's on the drugs.”

During the arraignment, Elson spoke only a few words to Judge Thomas Koehler. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit and shackled at the ankles and wrists, his bearded face did not show any clues about what he was thinking.

“Yes, sir,” said Elson, when Kohler asked him if his name was correct and if he was indeed pleading not guilty.

Elson also waived his right to a speedy trial, through his attorney, Brian Sissel, of the Linn County Public Defender's office. A trial date has been set for Aug. 23 in Linn County District Court, with an Aug. 12, pretrial hearing.

Hochstetler sat near the clerk's mother in court this morning. Hochstetler said she knew their family, but not the clerk, before the kidnapping. As Hochstetler wept in the courtroom, the clerk gently kidded her.

“She said they were going to kick me out if I kept crying,” Hochstetler said.

Hochstetler said Elson was abused as a child and she believes that sent her brother down a dangerous path. She warned him that she would cut all ties with him if she knew he was back on drugs, and recently she stopped answering his calls.

A week later, he was arrested on the kidnapping charge.

Elson's trial date has not been set. If convicted, he faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.