Man beaten, tied and kept under armed watch in Wichita cuts self free and runs: records

A 38-year-old South Dakota man who was beaten, robbed and then tied up in a north Wichita home and kept under armed watch in a bathroom was able to use a blade to cut his hands and feet free and escape, according to a court document released this week.

Police responding to the April 29 call found the victim bleeding from his head, possibly from being hit with the barrel of a shotgun. He was wearing only socks and underwear and had duct tape around his neck, the arrest affidavit says.

The arrest affidavit also shows how at least one of the four suspects tried to blackmail another to keep their name from being brought up to police.

Additionally, the affidavit details the case the state has against 34-year-old Emanuel Silva, 38-year-old Gene Anthony Goodnight-Popp, 38-year-old Mary Grace Ann Chase and 42-year-old Nathan Lewis Chase.

All four remained jailed Wednesday.

Silva, Goodnight-Popp and Mary Grace Ann Chase, all from Wichita, have been charged with aggravated robbery with a dangerous weapon, aggravated robbery inflicting bodily harm and two counts of kidnapping in the commission of a crime.

Nathan Chase, of Rapid City, South Dakota, has been charged with one count of kidnapping in the commission of a crime.

Goodnight-Popp and the Chases had conflicting accounts about what happened, their involvement and that of other defendants. Silva isn’t mentioned as being interviewed by police in the identical affidavits released in the other three defendants’ cases.

A judge was still deciding whether to release the affidavit in Silva’s case on Wednesday. He was arrested a few weeks after the others.

The affidavit outlines what happened:

Just before 4 p.m. April 29, police were called by someone who saw a man running in his socks and underwear and bleeding from his head. He also had duct tape around his neck.

The attack happened at 1751 N. Payne, where Goodnight-Popp said he lives with Mary Chase. Goodnight-Popp said Chase is the “mother to Nathan Chase’s children,” the affidavit says.

Police and jail records have Chase’s last name as Martin. Court records show she and Nathan Chase ended their marriage in 2017.

Another person reported seeing a man with blood on his face running and jumping over a fence. That person, who lived near the home on Payne, told police they heard a person who lives at the home where the attack allegedly happened telling the victim to get back inside.

The victim said he met Nathan Chase on a Rapid City, South Dakota, community Facebook page. He had given Chase rides before — then Chase asked him for a ride to Wichita with the promise he would be paid $1,000 by a man named Gene.

Prior to that, the victim said he told Chase he was trying to sell his mobile home trailer for $30,000 and wondered if Chase thought he had sold it and had the money on him.

They drove to Wichita and met Mary Chase and an unknown male at a Jump Start off 13th Street. The victim then followed them to a home.

The victim said he arrived in Wichita around 3 a.m. — about 13 hours before police were called.

The victim said Mary Chase told him to go inside to get his money. Inside, two unknown males, one with a shotgun, came and beat him with their hands and a shotgun. The victim said he thought one of the attackers was named Gene and that Gene tackled him, hit him in the face and pointed a gun at him.

Mary Chase identified one of them as Silva.

The victim said he was able to get to the front door, open it and yell to Nathan Chase before being bound by his hands and feet and put on the ground. Chase was also bound and put on the ground, he said.

Mary Chase was sitting on the couch directing the unknown males, who were asking for the victim’s car keys, the victim said.

He was bleeding from his head. He then was taken to the master bathroom and told to clean up. He was told if he could get the bleeding to stop, they would drop him off a block from the hospital.

The victim said he passed out and woke up to Nathan Chase pointing a rifle at him and being on guard. Chase kept coming in and out of the bathroom to check on him.

When Chase was gone, the victim said he was able to find a blade and cut his hands and feet free. He then ran out the back door.

The victim said he left behind his wallet, title to his trailer, car keys and phone.

“(The victim) had a head injury and lacerations to his head including a round laceration to his forehead that is circular like it could have been caused by the end of a shotgun barrel and he had a broken toe on his left foot,” a detective wrote in the affidavit.

A white Dodge Journey with a South Dakota license plate was found in the driveway of the home.

In the home, police found duct tape with blood, bungee cords, a razor blade, shotgun, rifle and bloody towels and clothing.

Mary Chase also allowed police to download messages on a phone used by her and Goodnight-Popp.

On May 1, Chase texted Goodnight-Popp saying that “Emanuel … says I owe him … I don’t have the $500 but they also didn’t finish the job either cause Lo, u, Nate (a little bit) n myself all had to help with the whole thing so idk what to do.”

Goodnight-Popp responded: “Emmanuel only did half the job. The car sits in the driveway still and everyone of us the cops talked to will all be really (expletive) lucky not to catch serious charges.”

There was also a Facebook messenger conversation from that day between Mary Chase and Silva. Chase told him: “Hey I am supposed to tell u that if u want ur name to stay out of this n for Nate to keep his story n take charges than it will cost u $500.”

Silva is on probation for a 2021 case involving drugs and being a felon in possession of a firearm, court records show. He spent time in prison for a 2006 incident involving criminal threat and then went to prison again after violating probation in a 2018 drug case that had originally also involved a gun charge and battery on a officer, records show. He is also scheduled to be sentenced next month in a 2022 case where he was originally charged with felon in possession of a weapon. Additionally, he had a pending case from an incident in May involving possession of drugs and fleeing and eluding, court records show.

None of the others have any other criminal cases in Sedgwick County.

A 42-year-old Nathan Lewis Chase appears in the South Dakota Department of Corrections as previously having a case with a sentence that has been finished. It doesn’t provide details..

This story was originally published June 23, 2023 at 5:31 AM.