Trevor Summers found guilty of kidnapping ex-wife in failed murder-suicide plot

Trevor Summers fate sits in the hands of a jury

Gloria Gomez reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa jury found Trevor Summers guilty after kidnapping his ex-wife in a failed murder-suicide plot.

Summers was found guilty Friday evening of several charges, including attempted first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery.

The defendant never took the stand in his own defense during his trial, but while acting as his own attorney, he spoke directly to jurors.

Summers told the jury his now ex-wife's story doesn't add up. He was accused of kidnapping and raping his estranged wife, Alisa Mathewson, and plotting a failed murder-suicide back in 2017.

Victim testifies in Trevor Summers trial

The mother of five told jurors that she was kidnapped and nearly killed by her estranged husband Trevor Summers.

But he told the jury a different version of the events, saying it wasn't a kidnapping — it was planned.

"We packed, we left, we had a plan to go to my house. Her accusation is that she was tied to go to my house," Summers claimed. "I ask you, does it make sense to go and meet children with a woman tied up?"

He argued to the jury, "This was not a scene that depicted some sort of crime or some kind of — anything more than what she described as wrestling around."

Alisa Mathewson says her estranged husband, Trevor Summers, used Christmas lights to tie her to her bed.

PREVIOUS: After five years of delays, Trevor Summers heads to trial in kidnapping and failed murder-suicide plot

Back on March 11, 2017, Summers and Mathewson were going through a bitter divorce. Despite a restraining order against him, prosecutors say Summers broke into the house and attacked Mathewson in her bedroom where she would be kept against her will for hours.

"He used the Christmas lights to tie me to the bed rails, at one time being hog-tied," she tearfully testified. "The pain was so incredible."

Earlier this week, the mother of five cried on the stand as she recounted how Summers tried to smother her to death and later raped her twice.

Trevor Summers, acting as his own attorney, cross-examines victim

Trevor Summers, representing himself in his attempted murder trial, cross-examined his ex-wife Alisa Mathewson, the victim who accused him of kidnapping, raping, and nearly killing her.

Summers tried to suggest it was consensual during an awkward cross-examination, but that only triggered a fiery response.

"Did I hold you down?" Summers asked Mathewson.

"You did push me, you did hold me down, you did tie me up, you did attack me, you did break into my home when I was sleeping," she proclaimed with conviction. "You raped me!"

The jury began deliberating at 2 p.m. Friday. Summers will now be sentenced on October 3.

Hillsborough County Crime and Public Safety