Dugard kidnap suspect apologizes in jail letter

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The man accused of kidnapping and raping Jaycee Dugard and holding her captive for nearly two decades wrote an apology in a jailhouse letter that talks about "ending a sexual problem believed to be impossible."

Phillip Garrido's handwritten letter, received Thursday by KCRA, did not mention Dugard or her two daughters allegedly fathered by Garrido, said Anzio Williams, news director at the Sacramento-based station.

"First off," Garrido wrote, "I would like to apologize to every human being for what has taken place."

He continued, "People all over the world are hearing testimony that through the spirit of Christ a mental process took place ending a sexual problem believed to be impossible."

The letter was three paragraphs long. Williams said KCRA only released the one paragraph it deemed newsworthy.

The station said it has received a total of three letters from Garrido. In an earlier letter, Garrido alleged Dugard's civil rights were violated during questioning by authorities.

Garrido and his wife, Nancy, are being been held at El Dorado County Jail. They were arrested in August and charged with abducting Dugard outside her South Lake Tahoe home in 1991. Prosecutors allege the couple sexually assaulted Dugard and held her in a secret compound at their Antioch home. The couple has pleaded not guilty.

Phillip Garrido's lawyer, Susan Gellman, told KCRA her client is expressing genuine remorse.

"He would like people to consider the fact that he's a changed man," she said. "He presents obvious issues whether or not he is competent to be a defendant and we are looking into that."

Gellman did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.

El Dorado County District Attorney Vern Pierson called Garrido a "master manipulator" who is trying to "manipulate the process, the people involved in that process, and, most significantly, his prior victims."

"It appears once again that Mr. Garrido seeks leniency due to claims of religious transformation and alleged personal change," Pierson said.

Dugard was reunited with her family Aug. 27 after her whereabouts was discovered during a meeting with Garrido's parole agent. The agent had summoned Garrido, a registered sex offender, after two University of California Berkeley police employees grew suspicious of him when he showed up at the campus with two girls and asked for a permit to hold a religious event.

Dugard's attorney, McGregor Scott, declined to comment.

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