PHILADELPHIA — During more than 10 years of living with alleged kidnapper Linda Ann Weston, Edwin Sanabria never yelled for help or tried to escape.

Testifying at a preliminary hearing Monday in the kidnapping, assault, and fraud case against Weston, Sanabria, 31, described years of being imprisoned in small spaces, sleeping on floors, often going without food, and witnessing the beatings of Weston’s other alleged victims.

Sanabria, one of four mentally handicapped adults who were found in October in the subbasement of an apartment house in northeast Philadelphia, told of fathering several children with one of Weston’s other alleged victims, only to have them taken away.

Weston and her three co-defendants are accused of imprisoning the four, stealing their Social Security checks and moving them around the country to avoid detection. Police have alleged that Weston targeted vulnerable adults, gained their trust and kidnapped them.

Police have described Weston, 51, as the ringleader of the scheme, and also charged her boyfriend, her daughter and a Texas street preacher.

Testimony in the hearing is scheduled to continue today, at which time Common Pleas Court Judge Patrick Dugan will decide whether to hold the group for trial.

 

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