Rape Charges Shake Homeless Village : Crime: Two leaders of the experimental domed encampment are accused of attacking a TV host who befriended them. One is also wanted in the murder of his wife.

They were the First Couple of Genesis I, Los Angeles’ celebrated domed village for the homeless. Eri Burns, 38, was the office manager, and her roommate, Bill Matthews, 48, was in charge of maintenance.

Visiting news media became interested in the couple. Burns, perhaps the most articulate resident of the village, told an elaborate story of how she had once been a success in the real estate business, only to wind up on the streets because of an abusive, drug-addict husband.

She told about then meeting Matthews on a blind date--arranged by homeless friends. Matthews, in turn, told a reporter: “The minute I laid eyes on her, I fell in love.”

Now both are under arrest for allegedly kidnaping and raping a cable TV host who had befriended them. And Matthews, it turns out, is a fugitive sought under another name in the New Jersey slaying of his wife with a crossbow.

Both pleaded not guilty this week to a number of counts and were ordered jailed until their arraignment Feb. 1. Bail for Matthews was set at $1 million and for Burns at $500,000.

Genesis I leaders vowed to continue their project but the arrests further tarnish the image of the much-touted Downtown village that was supposed to demonstrate that the homeless could govern themselves.

Founded by Ted Hayes, a flamboyant advocate for the homeless, under a $250,000 grant from Arco, Genesis I was different from the start. In contrast to the formal structure and rigid discipline found at most local missions, individual choice and self-rule became the hallmarks of the encampment of 18 fiberglass domes at Golden Avenue and 9th Street.

“No rules and regulations,” Hayes said. “You’re free to be who you are.”

While few of the approximately two dozen original residents showed much talent for leadership, there were a couple of exceptions.

One was Burns, a former resident of Daytona Beach, Fla., who had ended up on the streets of Los Angeles as a panhandler. The other was Matthews, who said he had left his job as a plumber in New York City and traveled around the country until his money ran out.

While Burns and Matthews were still out on Downtown streets, some people who knew both of them fixed them up on a blind date. When the domes went up in November, the couple moved into one of them, sharing a living room, kitchen, bedroom and storage area.

They also took over the camp’s cleanup patrol, determined that Genesis would not look like nearby Skid Row.

“They lived like pigs . . . down there,” Matthews, who generally avoided interviews, told a reporter in September. “I wasn’t raised to live like that, and I won’t.”

“Before, I felt like a leper,” Burns said. “Now there’s all this attention.”

Nonetheless, a month into the experiment, crises started to overwhelm the little village.

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Bags of donated clothing and food began disappearing. Simple chores--security watches and dining-room cleanup--went undone. Some residents left the village by choice and others were forced out for drug use and stealing.

But because Genesis I was different, the news media kept stoping by. One of the visitors was the cable television host, who helped many residents of the village, including the couple, after interviewing them for a story.

“She was our friend,” Hayes said of the woman. “She brought Eri clothes.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Karen Habeeb said the woman, whose name is being withheld because of the nature of the crime, even lent the couple her car last Saturday.

“They picked her up Downtown, and they were supposed to take her back to Dome City,” Habeeb said. “Instead, they drove her around in Downtown Los Angeles while she was repeatedly attacked in the car.”

Habeeb said the couple, armed with a knife, forced the woman to participate in a variety of sexual acts. At some point, Burns got out of the car and Matthews continued the attacks alone, the prosecutor said.

Finally, Matthews got out of the car and walked away, investigators said. The victim drove home and called police, and the couple were arrested at Genesis I a few hours later.

Matthews was charged Wednesday with three counts of rape, four counts of forcible oral copulation, penetration by a foreign object, robbery, kidnaping for the purpose of rape and kidnaping for the purpose of robbery. Burns was charged with aiding and abetting rape, forced oral copulation and kidnaping.

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Fingerprint checks show that Matthews is wanted in New Jersey under the name of Arthur Wesley Smith in the 1992 murder of his wife, the district attorney’s office said. The story of the crossbow murder, with Smith as the prime suspect, was featured in an “America’s Most Wanted” television broadcast later that year.

Officials with the Fox Broadcasting Co. said Smith had met his wife, Martha, through a personal ad while serving time in New Jersey for rape.

Residents of Genesis I would not comment on the arrests Thursday. But Katy Haber, an outside public relations director for the village, said they felt betrayed by the crimes of which Matthews and Burns are accused.

Hayes, the village’s leader, said Genesis I will survive.

“Out of the 15 residents here, most of these people are all right. They have their problems, but they’re all right.

“This was one person, a thug, who tried to escape the law from living here among the homeless,” Hayes said. “This happens in all segments of our society.”

Michael Dear, a USC professor who is working on a six-month assessment of Genesis, said the incident may cause setbacks but will not seriously damage the project.

“There’s no reason to see a long-term effect there,” Dear said. “Nobody expected a rose garden.”