Missouri City man gets life in blowtorch torture

A Missouri City man convicted of torturing a woman with pliers, a hot clothes iron and a homemade blowtorch has been sentenced to life in prison.

Wilburt Dwaine Cash, 30, was sentenced Wednesday by 240th District Court Judge Thomas R. Culver III, the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office said Friday in a news release.

Cash pleaded guilty last month to aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault and witness tampering in the 2011 kidnapping and torture case. He demanded a trial, however, on an aggravated sexual assault charge, the release said.

After a two-day trial, Culver found Cash guilty of that charge.

Assistant District Attorney Chad Bridges said Cash tortured the woman for several hours on March 6, 2011, at a Missouri City residence, according to the release. After Cash was arrested, he attempted to contact his victim and force her to drop the charges, the release said.

"This is one of the worst aggravated sexual assault cases I have ever seen in all my years as a district judge," Culver said in a prepared statement. "The victim was sexually and physically tortured with pliers and burned with a hot clothes iron and a homemade blowtorch. The punishment I assessed ensures this will never happen again."

The life sentence was imposed on the aggravated sexual assault charge alone.

Cash was also sentenced to the maximum two years in a state jail facility on each of two counts of witness tampering for his attempts to coerce his victim into dropping charges, the release stated. In addition, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison on each of three counts of aggravated assault and another 15 years on one charge of aggravated kidnapping.

The sentences will run concurrently, but Cash will not be eligible for parole for at least 30 years.

"Justice sometimes demands the maximum punishment our law allows, and lifetime sentences are meant for people like Wilburt Cash," prosecutor Elan Levy said in a statement.

Attorney Kennitra Foote represented Cash.

carol.christian@chron.com