A Kila man accused of a vicious rape and assault of a woman on Christmas Eve 2017 has pleaded guilty.

Alexander Kim Torppe, 33, appeared in Flathead County District Court with his public defenders Maury Soloman and Alisha Rapkoch, and agreed to plead guilty, but mentally ill, to one count of aggravated assault. He entered a no contest, but mentally ill, plea to one count of assault with a weapon.

Torppe also agreed to plead guilty by way of Alford to one count of aggravated kidnapping and to one count of sexual intercourse without consent.

The plea deal, agreed to by Torppe and the Flathead County Attorney’s Office, calls for a 40-year sentence, but without parole restrictions. The agreement also calls for Torppe to be in the custody of the Montana Department of Health and Human Services and placed in an appropriate correctional facility, mental health facility, residential facility or developmental disabilities facility for custody, care and treatment. He originally faced a maximum 240 years in prison.

During Friday’s hearing, Torppe said he understood the proceedings and was satisfied with his attorneys. He said before the assault, he and the victim were dating and had traveled to California to see his grandmother.

He also said he didn’t remember the knife assault. When Rapkoch asked Torppe if he thought anyone else had done it, he said he didn’t know. He then said he assaulted her several times.

County Deputy Attorney Andrew Clegg questioned Torppe if he understood the proceedings, which he said he did, and also about the drugs he was using at the time of the crime.

“I was smoking meth and pot,” Torppe said.

Torppe said he was diagnosed with a depressive disorder with psychotic features. He said he was taking medication for it.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by Flathead County Sheriff’s Office Detectives Brandy Hinzman and Bret Childers, on Dec. 24, 2017, the victim knocked on her parents’ door at about 7 a.m. The court documents state that they found her badly injured and described her as “unrecognizable.” She was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center’s emergency room and then the intensive care unit.

She was diagnosed with a lacerated liver, collapsed lung and bleeding in the brain, as well as bruises and cuts all over her body, court documents stated. Her eyes were swollen shut and clumps of her hair were missing.

The parents told detectives they hadn’t seen her in months and suspected Torppe was responsible. The victim awoke two days later and stated “Alex did it.”

Torppe was found later at a Conrad Drive residence and arrested. He was in the county jail before his transfer to the state hospital in Deer Lodge.

County detectives spoke to the victim after she regained memories of the months prior to her hospitalization. She said Torppe took her to his home in a remote area on Browns Meadow Road.

According to documents, the victim said Torppe became controlling and physically abusive, and she felt she couldn’t leave the residence because he repeatedly threatened to kill her or her family members if she left. The court documents show she also reported being assaulted several times, which medical providers confirmed, saying not all of her injuries were fresh.

Additional information in the affidavit indicated Torppe forced the woman to have sex. The victim said Torppe cut her with a knife in her genital area, which was corroborated by medical providers.

When investigators got a warrant for Torppe’s residence, they found puddles of blood, clumps of hair and human matter.

When detectives questioned Torppe, he admitted beating the victim and causing some of her injuries. He also claimed to have videotaped beating her and intended to show it to other people.

Torppe spent time in the Montana State Hospital after his attorneys argued he was unfit to stand trial. He said he didn’t understand the legal proceedings he was part of and was diagnosed with a severe major depressive order. Torppe also said he heard and felt “frequencies” from the modulator.

Torppe met with doctors at the state hospital in Deer Lodge and those exams led District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht to rule Torppe unfit to stand trial. He allegedly told the doctors interviewing him he believed drug use “ruined my brain, I hate them, I’m never doing them again.”

Torppe’s commitment to the state hospital was extended to March 26, 2020, but in two court hearings in June things changed dramatically. After hearing testimony from his mother, ex-wife, a forensic psychiatrist and attorney William Managhan, Judge Ulbricht issued her order June 23, stating “the Court finds the totality of the evidence presented supports the conclusion Torppe is malingering his symptoms.

Torppe was returned to the Flathead County Justice Center June 30. He is being held on $250,000 bail.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com