Bail Withheld for Pair in Shackling Case

PHILADELPHIA — A self-styled preacher accused of murdering a woman and keeping four others chained in a basement where he allegedly raped, tortured and fed them dog food was ordered held without bond today.

Gary Heidnik, 43, his nose bandaged from a punch by another prisoner in a jail cell, said nothing as a judge allowed no bail on the murder charge and set $1-million bail for each of four counts of rape.

An alleged accomplice, Cyril Brown, 31, was charged with the slaying of one of the other women and also was held without bail.

Police who raided Heidnik’s garbage-strewn home Wednesday said they also found body parts stored in a refrigerator and there were reports that charred body parts were found in a pot in the kitchen.

Heidnik was charged with more than 50 crimes, including murder in the slaying of Debbie Johnson, 23, kidnaping and rape.

Brown was charged with the killing of Sandra Lindsay, 25, and multiple counts of rape, kidnaping and conspiracy.

Heidnik was arrested Wednesday while driving a 1987 Cadillac and carrying nearly $2,000 in cash. Police said documents found in his home indicated he may have owned $500,000 in stocks and bonds and several cars, including the Cadillac and a Rolls-Royce.

Lisa Thomas, 19, one of the women freed from the basement, told the Philadelphia Daily News she met Heidnik on Dec. 22 and went to dinner with him. Thomas said they returned to his home to watch videotapes and she fell asleep. When she awoke, Heidnik was “choking me and he handcuffed me,” she said.

Thomas said that Lindsay had been handcuffed to the ceiling of the basement and that one day she just dropped to the ground. “She fell in the hole and hit her head on the concrete. And I don’t know if that’s when she died or not,” Thomas said.

Police told the Philadelphia Inquirer that Heidnik used a food processor to grind up pieces of Lindsay’s dismembered body and that he fed it to the other captives.

One of the women led police to the body of another woman--tentatively identified as Johnson--buried beneath twigs, leaves and debris in Wharton State Forest.

A witness told police Heidnik forced the woman into a hole in his basement, filled it with water and electrocuted her.

Heidnik’s arrest, Page 19.