SANDPOINT — Jurors are deliberating the case against a Blanchard man charged with rape, kidnapping and battery.

A jury of nine men and five women took began deliberations on Thursday afternoon and is expected to resume today in 1st District Court.

The charges against Joe Frederick Ransom date back to April 23, when Ransom allegedly attacked an on-again/off-again girlfriend at her cabin near Spirit Lake. Ransom, 51, is accused of attacking the woman, threatening to kill her and holding her against her will. The prolonged attack allegedly culminated with Ransom forcibly raping her.

The alleged victim told jurors that she had been in an on-again/off-again relationship with Ransom and were broken up when he attacked her. She testified that Ransom was angry that she had begun dating another man and backhanded her en route back to her remote cabin.

The woman testified that she was thrown to the ground once they reached their destination and Ransom held a knife to her neck. Ransom allegedly said that he had planned her killing the day before, but had pivoted to the concept of mutilating her instead, according to court documents.

Events allegedly grew increasingly surreal after that, court testimony shows.

The alleged victim, 54, said Ransom alternately attempted to goad her into killing him and a bartender whom Ransom said owed him money. She told jurors that she was ultimately raped by Ransom.

Ransom’s accuser fled her home with her possessions in tow once Ransom left to go eat breakfast, trial testimony indicates. She alerted authorities and underwent a rape examination.

Ransom told investigators that he struck the woman after she spit in his face, but denied having intercourse with her. Ransom’s story shifted once detectives advised him the woman was undergoing the exam and admitted that he had sex with her, court records indicate.

Unbeknownst to Ransom, however, was that the rape kit failed to identify any DNA. The alleged victim told investigators that Ransom was unable to complete the sexual assault.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall argued during his opening remarks that Ransom’s narrative shift was telling, as was the woman’s urine-soaked jeans and immediate flight from her own home.

Marshall told jurors that Ransom’s motives were anchored in his overarching need for control and said evidence in the case would transcend a common hurdle in sexual assault cases.

“It’s not going to be a he said/she said (case),” said Marshall. “There’s going to be a lot more to it than that.”

Deputy Public Defender Susie Jensen advised jurors that that the state’s case wasn’t as strong as advertised.

“There’s a lack of forensic evidence,” said Jensen, who maintained that the woman was fabricating the allegations after her romantic feeling toward Ransom proved unrequited.

“This is a story. It’s an awful story, but that’s all it is. A story,” said Jensen.