A Vancouver man was sentenced to 8½ years in prison Tuesday for kidnapping and torturing a man near Arnold Park.
Jordan Spisla, 28, pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault, under the torture prong. He originally appeared on an allegation of second-degree attempted murder.
Senior Deputy Prosecutor Jeff McCarty told The Columbian Friday the victim, identified as Josiah Greenwood, survived his injuries and has mostly recovered. Greenwood’s father and grandmother spoke during Spisla’s sentencing hearing, court records show.
Vancouver police responded at 4:38 p.m. Aug. 11 to 2707 N.E. Arnold Road for reports of an assault.
Officers observed a man, later identified as Greenwood, lying in a field. His face appeared to have been severely beaten, and he had numerous pellet wounds to his chest and the back of his head, according to a probable cause affidavit. Medics said Greenwood had a pulse but was unresponsive.
Greenwood was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where medical personnel said they removed about 50 metal pellets from his body.
The man who called police said he was leaving a house he shares with others, including Spisla, at about 4 p.m. on that Thursday. He saw Spisla standing over a man who was kneeling in a field nearby. When the roommate returned home, at about 4:30 p.m., he said he saw the same man lying in the field. He said Spisla came outside, approached him and said, “What, you going to rat on me now?” the affidavit states.
The witness said Spisla told him he’d been torturing Greenwood for days because Greenwood disrespected him; Spisla also said something about a broken television, according to court records.
A search of the house yielded BBs that matched those found inside the victim. Detectives also found “copious amounts of blood” in Spisla’s bedroom. They also found a half-height door behind Spisla’s bed, which led to a storage area; detectives said it appeared someone had been kept inside it, the affidavit states.
Police said Spisla’s roommates described him as violent and said his temper makes them afraid to knock on his door, court records say.
