The Trial

In 2011, the trial for the nine men involved in the gas rapes began. It was held in Santa Cruz, almost a hundred miles away from the colony where the rapes took place. The charges detail the acts, with the formal indictments listing victims' ages: eight to sixty years old. These victims include a woman who is mentally disabled and another woman who was pregnant at the time and sent into premature labor after being raped by one of the men--her brother.

One man, Jacob Neudorf Enss--age 36 as of 2009--escaped from prison shortly after being arrested and made his way to Paraguay, where he was not prosecuted. The other men pleaded not guilty. These men did not seem to take the trial seriously. They often joked with the courtroom guards and fell asleep during the proceedings. In fact, the men were so rude that “during one victim’s testimony, the judge had to reprimand them for laughing and making faces” (Time Magazine).

Due to the rules in Manitoba Colony, the women could not legally represent themselves. Instead, the prosecution’s case was supported by five men, the victims’ husbands and fathers, who acted as the private complainants within the proceedings.

Manitoba Colony is notoriously reclusive and ultraconservative; the colony has been left to its own devices. The Bolivian government does not require the community to report any crime except for murder. The police also have practically no jurisdiction inside Manitoba Colony. Instead, the Old Colonists have created a government of nine ministers and a ruling bishop. These leaders are men, elected for life, voted for by the other men. Manitoba Colony is almost entirely a sovereign nation within Bolivia.

The gas rapes were one of the only times that an Old Colony sought outside intervention. This was due to the fact that the victims’ husbands and fathers were so enraged, they threatened to lynch the men who were accused. One man, Franz Weiler Kloss, who was believed to be involved in the rapes, was lynched and later died from his wounds.

Jacob Wiebe Knelsen, seen in court in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on May 27, 2011, is accused, along with eight other Mennonite men, of serial rape. Photograph by Noah Friedman-Rudovsky. Taken from TIME Magazine.

On Thursday, August 25, 2011, the court found the defendants guilty, sentencing each of them to twenty five years in prison. Jacob Neudorf Enss remains at large, charged with the crime of raping these women but never tried for it. The other man involved, Peter Wieber Wall, was sentenced to twelve years in prison as he was "only" the veterinarian who supplied the other men with the anesthetic gas that he doctored. He also supplied the rapists with condoms and Viagra in addition to the incapacitating spray.

Men Convicted With Their Ages As Of 2009:

Abraham Peters Dick, 18

Johan Bolt Ham, 18

David Guenther Banman, 21

Franz Dick Wall, 21

Jacob Wiebe Lowen, 23

Jacob Wiebe Wall, 24

Heinrich Knelsen Klassen, 27

Peter Friesen Neufeld, 38

Jacob Wiebe Knelsen, 41

Peter Wieber Wall, 46