Montesano woman furious alleged attacker walks free

The 21-year-old survivor of an attack in Montesano was aghast this week to find that the man who allegedly attempted to pull her into his car on her walk home from work is going to walk free from jail in 10 days.

“The city of Montesano is not happy. Grays Harbor is not happy,” she said. “And they will make it very uncomfortable, I believe, for him to live here,” Shuck told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson

Shuck had been walking home through her neighborhood in May when a man pulled up and told her to get in his truck. She said he jumped out of the vehicle and grabbed her, forcing a blunt object — that she could not see, but thought felt like a gun — into her side.

RELATED: Montesano attack survivor relieved suspect is in custody

Shuck made herself dead weight, screamed, and fought off the attacker. Based on Shuck’s description, police later found the suspect, identified as 41-year-old Isaac Gusman, living at a self-made campsite in the woods of neighboring Mason County.

At the time, Shuck told Dori that it was “an incredible relief” to find that “they had him in custody and he’s not going to hurt anyone else.”

However, it was a short-lived sense of relief — on Thursday, Grays Harbor County Judge Ray Kahler ruled that Gusman was not guilty of kidnapping, attempted kidnapping, or assault.

“We did not expect this outcome in the slightest,” Shuck said. “The case that was presented was very strong.”

Judge Kahler found Gusman guilty of just one crime, unlawful imprisonment — which equates to between one and three months behind bars. Because Gusman has been sitting in jail since May, he will hit the three-month mark and get to walk free on Aug. 27.

“Now we get to live in fear because he now knows where I live, he now knows my full name, which he did not before the trial,” Shuck said. “That is very hard to live with.”

Gusman’s time in jail amounts to just a quarter of the time he spent behind bars for a theft charge 12 years ago.

According to Shuck, the judge could not find beyond reasonable doubt that Gusman had had a gun at the time of the alleged attack, even though Gusman’s brother had testified that he had given his brother a 22-caliber rifle, and law enforcement had found 22-caliber bullets in Gusman’s car.

However, “because I did not see the gun and they did not find the gun, the judge deemed that he could not decide beyond reasonable doubt that he had a gun,” Shuck said.

Shuck had wanted a trial by jury, but this request was denied. In closing arguments, the defense stated that it didn’t want a jury trial because it didn’t want people guessing at whether or not Gusman had a gun or whether his motivation was sexual.

“It’s hard to go through all of this and to see the police department and the prosecutor do such a phenomenal job, and then to see the judge just basically dismiss it,” Shuck said.

Now, Shuck is making preparations to protect herself when Gusman is out on the loose.  She already has a concealed pistol license, though she was not carrying the evening that she was attacked. Shuck plans to apply for a restraining order against Gusman, and her employer will apply for a no-trespass order against him.

Still, she said that she will now live in fear knowing that a dangerous man has her personal information and could theoretically come find her — or any other woman — anytime.

“I did get away — someone younger, someone slightly less experienced, probably won’t,” she said. “And he’s gonna do it again. There’s no doubt in my mind. And the judge is gonna have to live with that.”

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