Beaufort bridal attack victim relieved by suspect's arrest
Rhyan Mazur-Williamson had gotten used to the idea that the man who brutally attacked her the night before her 2009 wedding would likely never be caught.
But last week, six years after the high-profile beating, Beaufort police found a DNA match they believe is from her attacker and made an arrest.
Mazur-Williamson's story of being beaten by an unknown man whom she found waiting in her rented cottage at the Beaufort Inn in April 2009 captured local attention and sympathy. The 26-year-old bride was forced to cancel her wedding plans so she could undergo facial surgery for multiple fractures to her nose and face. The wedding was moved to her parents' backyard on St. Helena Island the day after the attack.
Police went six years without finding a suspect, until last week when Said Perez, 32, of Beaufort, was charged.
The surprising arrest brought mixed emotions for the victim, family spokesman Joel Bailey said Monday.
"Rhyan, in all honestly, went through a really rough time," said Bailey, who is also Mazur-Williamson's attorney. "Not just physically, but psychologically there were a lot of issues, as you can imagine, and this brings it back to the forefront for her. But she's glad someone was arrested and is hoping for a conviction."
Bailey said Mazur-Williamson hopes the arrest will end years of local speculation about her attacker, whom many theorized she may have known.
"There were all sorts of rumors and innuendoes at the time that it happened as to who might have done it," Bailey said. "It took awhile to eliminate certain people including her fiancè, so if nothing else, the arrest will help put that all to rest."
A year after the attack, the Charlotte-based couple had mostly given up hope of an arrest.
"I do not believe the police will ever find him unless he turns himself in," Mazur-Williamson's husband, Michael Williamson, said at the time.
HOW THE ARREST WAS MADE
Until the arrest Dec. 10, Beaufort Police Department Lt. Darrell Gruel, the lead investigator on the case, had exhausted all leads.
That arrest followed one in September, when Perez was charged with assault and battery in connection with the Sept. 11 beating and attempted sexual assault of a young woman, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.
Perez was swabbed for DNA at the Beaufort County Detention Center then and the sample entered into the FBI's Combined DNA Index System. It was flagged as a match with the 2009 attack.
Perez now faces charges of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature and first-degree burglary in connection with the 2009 attack.
Police have not identified a motive and believe Perez and the victim were strangers, said Beaufort police spokesperson Cpl. Hope Able.
Perez remains in the detention center awaiting trial, jail records show.
A LEGAL BATTLE
Following the attack, Mazur-Williamson filed suit in 2012 against Associated Luxury Inn, the parent company of the Beaufort Inn, alleging the hotel had improper security measures to ensure guests' safety.
The suit seeks damages for the cost to cancel the couple's wedding ceremony, honeymoon and other events.
The lawsuit remains unresolved after an initial mediation between the parties failed, court records show.
Representatives from the Beaufort Inn did not respond to calls for comment, but the hotel denied all charges in a response to the original lawsuit.
Perez's being charged will settle some issues in the attack, but will largely not affect the suit, Bailey said.
"In cases with issues of security, the vast majority of the time the perpetrator is never caught," Bailey said. "So this arrest was mostly a pleasant surprise for all involved. We weren't holding out hope."
Follow reporter Erin Heffernan at twitter.com/IPBG_erinh.
Related content:
- Police still without a suspect in Beaufort hotel beating, April 22, 2009
- Bride attacked on wedding's eve sues Beaufort hotel, May 28, 2012
- Case goes cold on anniversary of Beaufort bride's beating, April 17 2010
This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 3:51 PM with the headline "Beaufort bridal attack victim relieved by suspect's arrest."