Suspect in Attacks on Women to Stand Trial

A 35-year-old man who is under investigation in the slayings of several prostitutes was ordered Tuesday to stand trial for attempted murder in an attack on one woman.

Glesty Donald Waters, 35, of Coos Bay, Ore., was identified in court by Helen Toy as the man who tried to strangle her on Jan. 5 in San Diego County.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Charles Rogers said Waters is not a suspect in the majority of the slayings of prostitutes in San Diego County or in the series of similar Seattle deaths dubbed the “Green River” killings.

Rogers said an investigation is continuing into several attacks on prostitutes in which Waters, who was arrested Jan. 25 in Coos Bay, is a suspect.

Additional Charges

San Diego Municipal Judge Robert Cooney also ordered Waters to stand trial on charges of kidnaping, false imprisonment, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

Toy, 33, of Chula Vista testified that she met Waters when he picked her up late on Jan. 5. She said Waters drove her to an isolated spot on a dark road.

“I said, ‘I want to go back.’ I told him I wanted to get out,” Toy testified.

“The defendant grabbed me around the neck. He began to choke me. I just went limp. When I went limp, he let me go. He shoved me out.”

She testified that she lay still, pretending she was dead, as the car drove away and then returned. In the morning she was spotted by a man who was walking his dog. The man summoned police.