Court documents reveal new details in Alberta sexual assault, confinement investigation

New details have emerged from the police investigation into a 59-year-old Alberta man who is accused of forcibly confining and sexually assaulting sex workers on a rural property east of Calgary.

According to recently-unsealed court documents obtained by Global News, four women — three of whom were described as sex workers — came forward separately to police with allegations of being attacked by Richard Mantha.

The attacks allegedly occurred between 2020 and March of this year.

The investigation into the alleged assaults began with an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers.

Mantha is accused of pulling a gun on one woman in December of 2021 and assaulting her on a weekly basis, while providing her with drugs, in his trailer within a quonset near Langdon over the 16 months that followed. The woman told police that she saw what she thought were body parts or heads in the trailer at the opposite end of Mantha’s bed.

A second woman was allegedly driven to Mantha’s home in March 2022 and confined in his trailer. It’s believed she was stabbed during her escape from the property and was later found injured by police along the Trans-Canada Highway.

A third woman accepted a ride while waiting at a bus stop in April 2022 and was allegedly rendered unconscious and taken to Mantha’s home.

The documents indicate a fourth woman, who previously knew Mantha before he moved outside of Calgary, was allegedly assaulted by Mantha 15 times between September 2020 and January 2021.

Police seized numerous electronics from Mantha’s home in April and also seized a BMW belonging to Mantha from a location in Quebec.

Court files state Mantha drove the BMW from Alberta to his mother’s home in Quebec sometime in late December 2022 or in early January 2023, but left the car there and elected to fly back to Calgary.

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According to investigators, the car had been cleaned in what appeared to be an attempt to remove bodily fluids including, but not limited to, blood and DNA. Police say they found a pellet pistol, a purse, women’s clothing and women’s boots inside the vehicle.

Police were notified of the location of the BMW by a family member of Mantha who saw a news piece on his original charges.

None of the allegations against Mantha have been proven in court.