A Rape of the Mind

On February 5, 2015, a bitterly cold morning in the seaside town of Bourne, Massachusetts, a murder-suicide plan was set in motion. A 31-year old Coast Guard Petty Officer, Adrian Loya, armed with an assault rifle, a pistol, and a shotgun, had driven from Virginia to shoot his way into the condominium of a colleague, Coast Guard Petty Officer Lisa Trubnikova, and her wife, Anna. Neighbors heard the sharp reports of multiple gunshots at 2 AM. First responders would be hampered by Loya’s vehicle which was set ablaze and was blocking the neighborhood’s entrance. A boombox blared movie themes from Batman and Bond movies. Hoax bombs were exploded and shook nearby buildings. Anna Trubnikova, bleeding from four wounds, desperately called for help. Her 911 call lasted over an hour as she lay on the floor next to her dead wife and Loya engaged in his elaborately staged stand-off with police.

The motive? Revenge. Loya had had a sexual encounter with Lisa two years before, an encounter he later described to a forensic psychologist as “a rape of the mind”. The full extent of Loya’s twisted mental state would soon emerge.