A Minneapolis man who had a history of sexual assault was sentenced to 20 years in prison for a knife attack that nearly killed a woman in a downtown Minneapolis parking ramp last year.
Robert John Meyers, 49, was sentenced to the maximum allowed because the judge factored in the brutal nature of the attack and a previous conviction for criminal sexual assault in Iowa. The recommended sentence was 13 years and two months.
"Your conduct fell just short of murder," Hennepin County District Judge Robert Small told Meyers at Friday's sentencing.
The sentence came exactly one year after Meyers, dressed in a business suit and carrying a black bag with a shoulder strap, followed a 28-year-old legal assistant on a Thursday afternoon after she left an elevator in the ramp at 800 Marquette Av. S.
He followed her to her car and then put a hunting knife to her throat. The woman screamed, stomped on his foot and bit him before he pushed the knife into her abdomen, severely injuring her. Later that same night, an off-duty police officer caught Meyers after Meyers allegedly stole a woman's purse at a bar.
In court, Meyers apologized for the attack, said he had found God in prison and called the attack the result of a terrible childhood that made him hate women.
Matt McKinney • 612-217-1747
