By AUSTIN FENNER and ANDY GELLER
June 11, 2008
The sadistic fiend accused of raping and torturing a Columbia grad student for 19 hours was dragged into court in shackles yesterday by six beefy court officers wearing black riot gear and carrying Plexiglas shields.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Carol Berkman ordered Robert Williams - who often plays hooky from the trial - brought to her courtroom so he could be identified as the man lurking in the victim's Hamilton Heights building an hour before the brutal attack on April 13, 2007.
Whitney Hawthorne, 27, who used to live in the building, noticed Williams, 31, in the lobby.
He tried to make small talk and then followed her into the elevator, she said.
"I was uncomfortable. I didn't want to be on the elevator with him," she said.
"I asked him, 'Where are you going and who are you here to see?' "
Williams replied, "Evans."
"What floor does Evans live on?" she asked.
"Four," he replied.
Hawthorne pressed the fourth-floor button.
Williams then allegedly conned his way into the victim's apartment, again by claiming to look for someone named Evans.
