Wife takes stand in incest trial

THOMPSON FALLS, Mont. - Calm, collected and cheerful, Nicole Guill spent almost six hours on the witness stand Monday.

Guill testified on behalf of her husband, Douglas Guill, in the case where he is charged with felony counts of sexual assault, sexual assault without consent and incest. The Heron resident watched as his wife testified for most of Monday.

Nicole Guill testified she spent more than 10 years living with the Guill family as Douglas Guill's live-in girlfriend while he continued to be lawfully married to another woman - the mother of the alleged victim, Candace Guill.

The woman also testified to many aspects of her life in Heron, including her relationships with different members of the Guill family, her spiritual beliefs, and to any alleged sexual acts.

Douglas Guill's daughter, whose name has been withheld, has accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was between the ages of 6 and 22. The trial began March 3 with jury selection at the Sanders County Courthouse in Thompson Falls. Opening statements by the prosecution and defense came the following day.

Nicole Guill has also been charged with felony and misdemeanor counts of sexual assault in her alleged participation in sexual acts with Douglas Guill's daughter. She will be tried in Sanders County at a later date. On Monday, she served as a chief witnesses for the defense, testifying that she spent nearly every waking moment with her husband, which sometimes included using the bathroom together.

Defense attorney Michael Sherwood asked Nicole Guill if she ever saw, heard or participated in any of the acts the alleged victim described during her testimony earlier in the trial; she denied all the accusations.

Sherwood also asked about allegations that her husband controlled people mentally by telling him he had God-like powers. She said he never spoke of being God or pretended to have godly powers, but she did say she finds guidance from God in her life. Guill said she considers herself a “born-again Christian,” which she said means that she tries to live her daily life how she thinks Christ would want her to. She said she tries to follow a basic understanding of the Ten Commandments.

During cross-examination, special prosecutor Daniel Guzynski also addressed Guill's spiritual beliefs, asking her if she knew that committing adultery went against one of the Ten Commandments. Guzynski noted that Guill lived with her now-husband for years while he was still married to another woman. He spent several minutes questioning her on why Douglas Guill didn't just file for a divorce so he could marry Nicole, since the two were living as a husband and wife.

Nicole Guill said the reason Douglas never sought a divorce was because he'd given his word to Candace that he would remain married so their children could grow up with both parents at the house. But Guzynski wasn't satisfied with the answer and he implied that perhaps the reason was so that Candace would not be awarded half the Guill estate. The issue of money was raised in the trial yet again.

Guzynski used the opportunity to attempt to discredit the idea that the alleged victim and her mother had money as a motive for sending Douglas Guill to prison. Candace Guill is seeking half the marital estate in a divorce suit, but the decision to award her the money is being appealed. Guzynski asked Nicole Guill why Candace would resort to such an “elaborate plot” to gain her husband's money when she could simply file for divorce. Nicole Guill stuck to her earlier statement that the Guills had decided to remain married for the kids.

The trial has drawn out for more than a week. Judge Deborah Kim Christopher informed jurors that the defense still has a number of witnesses who are scheduled to testify. Sherwood indicated in his opening statements that Douglas Guill would also take the stand to defend himself and deny the allegations he faces.

The defense plans to bring in as a witness the former boyfriend of the alleged victim. However, the man was being detained by law enforcement in Colorado and the defense is still attempting to iron out the details of his transport to Sanders County.

-Photo by ADAM HERRENBRUCK

Nicole Guill, wife of Douglas Guill, who stands accused of several sexual assault charges, points to a selection from a contract her husband established with a man who is scheduled to later testify. Guill spent most of Monday testifying on behalf of her husband.