KREM 2 News published April 22, 2021: His estranged wife was informed of the plot by the crew of an unnamed international news organization investigating the dark web.
written by Morgan Trau (KREM)
Friday April 25, 2021
She was held in a concrete storage tank underground for hours without an escape, the FBI said.
SPOKANE, Wash. -- What started as a polyamorous relationship has ended with an influential Spokane doctor arrested for a kidnapping plot. Ronald Ilg's federal court hearing revealed new details in his plan to have his estranged wife assaulted, drugged and extorted.
Ilg appeared in court Wednesday afternoon in a preliminary and detention hearing. He is charged with attempted kidnapping after the FBI was tipped off about the plot by the woman.
FBI special agent and key witness Ryan Butler testified in the suspect's hearing, that the wife was informed of the plot by the crew of an unnamed international news organization investigating the dark web.
Court documents show the victim married the suspect in 2016. Two years later, Ilg met a woman on the internet and invited her into their marriage, she told investigators.
The wife became increasingly uncomfortable with the relationship, she told agents. They explained that she and Ilg are currently involved in messy divorce, and they split custody of their young child.
Ilg wanted to take a trip to Mexico with his girlfriend while the kidnapping of his wife was supposed to take place, Butler added.
According to text messages, his girlfriend found out about Ilg's dark web plot in February and begs him to stop contacting her.
In a text exchange, Ilg, in her phone under the name 'Sir,' denies the allegations.
"[L]eave me alone [I]'m scared of you" the girlfriend texted. "[P]lease don't hire someone to hurt me or my family[.]"
"Um, that stuff is all fake," Ilg allegedly texted regarding the dark web. "And I've known it is all fake."
"You hired someone to hurt [WIFE] from the dark web using bitcoin[,] stop now," the girlfriend responded. "Leave me alone forever [I]'m scared of you."
The couple continued their relationship and went to Mexico in April, Butler said. While there, the FBI said the girlfriend found Ilg's burner phone that he used to contact people on the dark web. According to court documents, she threw his phone into the hotel pool because she thought he had the phone so he could talk to other women.
A fight ensued, according to the girlfriend. Butler confirmed the woman took audio recordings of Ilg allegedly assaulting her. Butler said in the tapes, he can hear her beg him to stop hurting her, then she struggles to breathe for several minutes.
Here's where things get even more bizarre.
The girlfriend told the FBI that Ilg forced her to sign a sex slave contract. The document was shown in court. In it, a "slave" signs her rights away and "unconditionally accepts anything the master chooses to do with the slave."
Butler said after the fight where the girlfriend took an audio recording, Ilg pricked her finger and forced her to sign the master/slave contract with her blood. The document also shows Ilg signed the contract in his blood.
Included in that contract, an agreement that the ”slave agrees to any any punishment, whether it was earned or not." The FBI said one of the punishments was to put her in one of two concrete holes in his Spokane yard.
Agents described the holes as storage tanks underground, and that a ladder was needed to get in and out of. The holes were shown in court and they were giant tubes in the ground. The victim told investigators Ilg would keep her down there for hours with no escape.
The defense say that Ilg and the girlfriend were just partaking in consensual BDSM, short for bondage and discipline, domination and submission, sadism and masochism. This is a sexual power-role-playing activity.
Another woman, who was hired to care for Ilg's kids, gave the FBI texts that the suspect sent to her regarding a "kidnapping sexual fantasy."
"It would depend on what I decide the scenario would be and your comfort level. As an example, if it was a kidnapping scenario. Something many women fear and yet sorta fantasize about. [WIFE] wouldn't be able to see (and it's almost impossible for her to know it's not me) but if someone was opening doors for me as I lead her outside and into a car, it would add a significant amount of intrigue and uncertainty," Ilg allegedly texted her.
The defense said having different sexual fantasies is not illegal, and that sex slave contracts are not uncommon. The prosecution argued that if the girlfriend said she was forced to sign this contract, it was an act of control and nonconsensual.
Ilg's estranged wife and his girlfriend maintained contact with each other regarding Ilg throughout the relationship, according to Butler. He said after Ilg assaulted his girlfriend in Mexico, she learned more information about plots against numerous women in Ilg's life. Court documents show the girlfriend reached out to his wife.
“Some strange stuff has happened while we have been here,” the girlfriend texted. “I need to talk to you asap when we get back."
According to the FBI, the couple was stopped at the Spokane International Airport on their way back from the trip. Ilg admitted to using the dark web to hire a hitman and said he used the moniker 'Scar2something.'
Court documents show Ilg said the hitman was actually for him, as a way to commit suicide so his assets are transferred to his girlfriend and not his estranged wife. However, the prosecution provided a screenshot in court of the dark web site that Ilg allegedly used. The site stated specifically that they will not and do not ever do suicides. The site explained that buyers only pay the hitmen when the job is finished, so "suiciders" can’t pay.
The prosecution argued that Ilg craves power and control over women, thus his planned assaults on his wife and former employee, plus his slave document for his girlfriend and his messages towards the woman watching his children. In the courtroom, one of Ilg’s ex wives asked to be a witness for the defense.
In light of these details that were not in the probable cause affidavit, the judge agreed that there needs to be more investigation into the Master-Slave relationship to see if it is consensual or not. That aspect of the case will not be considered until more information is learned.
His attorney Carl Oreskovich told KREM 2's Morgan Trau they are confident that they will be able to prove their client has mental health issues and should be in a psychiatric facility instead of in custody and there is no definite proof that Scar215 is actually Ilg. The prosecution had a passionate response urging the suspect is a major flight risk due to him being dangerous, his money and his intelligence.
Ilg is still being held at the Spokane County Jail, even after his attorney said they were confident they would return to court Thursday morning to move him to a psychiatric hospital. Thursday evening, the attorney's office said they didn't go to court. Ilg's next court appearance is scheduled for May 5 at 1:30 p.m.
