GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) - One of two brothers who savagely beat a prostitute was sentenced to more than 23 years in prison Thursday for the late May assault on the city's northwest side.
Peter James Versluys will serve between 23 and 50 years for armed robbery and first-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury. Kent County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Leiber also slapped him with a 6- to 15-year term for savagely beating the victim after he and his twin brother had sex with her. The sentences will run concurrent.
During sentencing Thursday,Versluys said he had been drinking and was high on LSD when the attack occurred.
His brother, Michael Versluys, has opted to take his chances before a jury in October.
The 29-year-old twins had just finished a sexual engagement with the woman when Peter held her down and Michael pummeled her in the head with a club as she begged for her life, according to court testimony.
The May 26 assault left the victim disfigured; she suffered nine broken bones. Doctors used metal pins and screws to fuse her bones and pieced her scalp together with eight surgical staples. She was hospitalized several days in serious condition.
The assault ended with the brothers ripping off the woman's pants trying to get money out of her pockets. Left to die in an abandoned home, the 33-year-old woman said she managed to walk out covered in a blanket and seek help at a party store on Leonard Street NW.
She was acquainted with the brothers and provided police with information that led to their quick arrests.
Peter Versluys was on probation for passing bad checks in Ottawa County when the assault occurred. He was released from prison last year. Prison records show that he has six tattoos. A chest tattoo reads "kill 'em all.''
Another tattoo reads Psalm 23:4, referring to the Bible passage "yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.''
