SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A man accused of killing a Syracuse woman and raping her 10-year-old daughter during a carjacking was beaten and suffered a broken nose on his first day in jail, authorities said.
David Renz had a swollen face and tissues stuffed up both nostrils when he appeared in federal court Friday to face a probation violation charge.
"I have a broken nose," he told his lawyer, according to The Post-Standard in Syracuse (http://bit.ly/15b7NLd).
His attorneys, James Greenwald and Kenneth Moynihan, said Renz was assaulted by other inmates at the Onondaga County Justice Center, where he was taken following his arrest Thursday night.
Sheriff Kevin Walsh told the newspaper he was looking into why Renz was put into a holding area with other prisoners - not the usual practice in holding someone facing such accusations.
Walsh said Renz has been segregated from other prisoners and is being watched around the clock.
"We're dealing with a man who is innocent until proven guilty," he said. "He's got to be protected."
Renz was arraigned Friday morning at a court in East Syracuse on charges that he abducted the mother and daughter as they left a gymnastics class in the Syracuse suburb of Clay.
Police said Renz raped the girl and stabbed the mother to death before fleeing into some woods. The 10-year-old girl escaped and was found by a passing motorist, who dialed 911. Renz was captured a short time later.
At the time of the attack, Renz was awaiting trial on federal child pornography charges and was supposed to be wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet tracking his whereabouts.
Authorities said they believe Renz cut the device off before the attack. Tampering attempts with those devices are supposed to sound an alarm. Probation officials are investigating what went wrong, said Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan.
The Associated Press generally doesn't publish information that could identify potential sex crime victims and isn't naming the slain woman to protect the girl's identity.