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The suspect, who is in the religious goods business, is accused of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman.
By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published April 30, 2002
TAMPA -- The FBI has arrested the general manager of a local religious goods store, accusing him of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a Georgia woman.
James J. Kucera, the general manager of Watra Church Goods in Pasco and Hillsborough counties, faces a kidnapping charge, although other charges could follow. He was brought to federal court in Tampa on Monday, but he will likely be moved to Georgia or Tennessee where the incidents occurred.
An FBI agent wrote in his arrest affidavit that the evidence suggested that Kucera transported the woman against her will "across state lines and in the process committed numerous acts of violence against the victim."
Neither Kucera, 38, of 9169 Highland Ridge Way in Tampa or several of his family members could be reached for comment. A woman who answered the phone at Watra's head office in Chicago said the company had no comment about the arrest.
According to court records, the woman knew Kucera as an acquaintance whileliving in Florida three years earlier. The Times is withholding the victim's name because of the nature of the crime.
Kucera called her on her cell phone in Marietta, Ga., to say that he would be driving through town and would she like to meet. The woman, who had not recently spoken with Kucera, agreed.
The FBI agent's affidavit contained the following description of what happened next:
On April 23 at about 8:30 p.m., the woman drove her Mercedes Benz to the Perimeter Mall in DeKalb County, Ga., and met with Kucera. She got into what she described as a green sport utility vehicle and the two drove off. Kucera drives a green 2000 Ford Explorer, records showed.
A short distance later, Kucera pulled over and forced the woman into handcuffs and leg restraints, the affidavit stated. He said he was being paid $40,000 to kidnap her. When the woman resisted, Kucera cut her with a knife in the upper torso, the affidavit stated.
Kucera then cut off the rest of her clothes, except for her underwear. He also wrapped plastic wrap around her chest and knees, tied her to the seats and covered her in a heavy blanket, she told authorities.
Kucera drove along what the woman thought was an interstate highway. In a field near what the woman thought was a truck stop, Kucera stopped and physically and sexually assaulted her, the affidavit stated.
Kucera began driving again, and the woman overheard him talking on a cell phone about "exit 68, Sweetwater," possibly a reference to Sweetwater, Tenn., she thought. At the next stop, Kucera placed a tube in her mouth and began to tape it closed, although the woman talked him out of it.
Kucera placed tape around her eyes, but the woman later told authorities that she could still see a little. Kucera then met with an unknown man who spoke with a foreign accent, and they placed the woman in the trunk of his car.
While in the trunk, the woman freed her hands and began to rip away wires to disable a rear brake light in the hope that a police officer would pull the car over for faulty equipment.
When the driver became aware of the commotion in the trunk, he stopped and opened it. The woman kicked the man and a struggle ensued. The man drove away quickly, leaving the woman on the side of the road.
Chattanooga Police Department patrolmen found the woman covered in plastic wrap and suffering from serious injuries, including a long cut to her torso. The woman subsequently identified Kucera as her assailant, the FBI agent stated.
Kucera's grandfather, John Kucera, founded Watra as a gift and card shop in Chicago in 1935. John Kucera's religious greetings cards sold so well that he decided to branch into other religious products. A Polish-American, he named the company Watra, which means "hot stuff" in Polish.
The business is still based in Chicago and is owned by James Kucera's parents, Jim and Janine.
Lured by a boom in church construction in the Tampa Bay area in the late 1980s, Watra expanded into Florida, buying a church supplies store in Tampa. In 1997, the company opened a factory at One Pasco Center on State Road 52 near Interstate 75.
It makes and sells products ranging from altars to gowns. The company also works with dozens of artists worldwide who do church sculptures, mosaics and paintings.
-- Times staff writer Chase Squires contributed to this report. Graham Brink can be reached at (813) 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com.