Women Relive the Experience of Sexual Assault While Facing Their Alleged Attacker in a Ukiah Courthouse

The case against Willy Hill is expected to go a jury later this week

Artistic rendering of a woman testifying in court (Gemini 2.5 Flash)

For the past week, Willy Hill, a former volunteer firefighter and tree worker from Fort Bragg, has faced an uncomfortable reckoning in a Ukiah courtroom.

Four women have taken the stand to accuse Hill of raping or attempting to rape them, describing their assaults in detail while persevering through tears under repeated questioning by defense attorney Justin Petersen.

Hill, 42, previously pleaded guilty to attacking two women in 2021. When he took the stand on Monday, Hill said he agreed to the plea to avoid going to trial on a kidnapping charge, which he said could have carried a life sentence. He did not express remorse during his testimony.

Because of the plea, neither of the two women was given the opportunity to testify at the time. The plea also resulted in Hill’s DNA being entered into a database, allowing it to be compared against evidence from cold cases. That process led investigators to re-examine evidence and resulted in Hill’s return to court in February 2026.

Although Hill is charged in this case with felony assault and kidnapping involving one woman, the court permitted testimony from other alleged victims under California law allowing evidence of prior sexual assaults to be considered for limited purposes.

The first allegation referenced in court dates back more than 13 years. Hill was questioned about an allegation from more than 13 years ago involving a teenage girl, in which he was accused of inappropriate conduct. Hill denied the allegation.

Hill also disputed testimony from a woman who described a harrowing encounter in 2018. The woman said she met Hill at a local bar, where he introduced himself as “Tucker.” She was a forester new to the area, and the two spoke briefly about their work — she marked trees for cutting, and Hill cut them.

When the woman left the bar, she testified, “Tucker” followed her and asked if she would see him again. “He said we should go back to my place or go back to his,” she said. “I said no, I’m going home. He started following me to the extent that I started running.”

The man stopped being friendly, she said. “He came up behind me and pushed me against a fence on the side of the sidewalk.” The woman testified she could not remember what he said next. “All I can remember is me saying, ‘Please, please stop. Leave me alone.’” She testified that he pulled down her pants and raped her.

Afterward, the woman testified she was disoriented and traumatized. New to town, she knocked on two doors asking for help before giving up. After wandering for more than an hour, she eventually found the police station.

She was able to identify Hill from a photo lineup. “I gave them a description, and they almost immediately knew who he was,” she testified. However, she said the officer she spoke with appeared not to believe her. When the officer asked her to go to Willits for a forensic exam by a trained nurse, she declined. She said she handed over her pants and left. She never heard from the Fort Bragg Police Department again.

On the stand, Hill testified the encounter was consensual. “She told me I could pull her pants down, and I was not convicted of anything in that situation,” he said.

Another allegation stems from October 2019, when Hill met a woman at the Pub Sports Bar in Ukiah. On Monday, Hill testified that the two hung out and played pool. He suggested multiple explanations for how his DNA could have ended up on the woman, including that she may have used the men’s restroom after him because the women’s restroom was crowded. He also claimed a pet parrot moved between them while they were together.

However, when questioned by detectives in 2023, Hill initially said he remembered nothing about the encounter. After detectives informed him that his DNA had been found in samples collected by a forensic nurse following an attempted rape near the bar that night, Hill said the DNA could have come from a glass of beer. He told police all they could prove was that he had been at the bar.

Deputy District Attorney Eloise Kelsey pointed out that Hill did not provide a detailed account of the evening until his testimony on Monday — after reviewing police reports, body-camera footage, and listening to his accuser testify under questioning from both sides.

According to the Ukiah woman’s testimony, she went to the bar, had drinks, and began walking home. A man followed her. As she neared her apartment, she confronted him and told him to go home. She testified that he overpowered her, dragged her into a secluded area, and struggled to pull down her pants while pinning her to the ground.

A blackout that night left the area in darkness, but the woman said she remembers her attacker’s face. She reported the attack later that evening and was examined that same night by a forensic nurse, who collected DNA samples.

The evidence was not immediately connected to a suspect, and the woman went on with her life.

About a year and a half later, Hill was at a friend’s home in Fort Bragg playing poker. The host and his wife had known Hill for eight years. When Hill’s ride home did not arrive, the wife offered to drive him.

“We got into my truck and drove up our dirt road, and when I turned, he started putting his hands down my shirt,” the woman testified. “He grabbed my nipples.”

The two were on a private road about six minutes outside of town. The woman said all she could do was keep driving.

“I started covering my chest,” she testified. “He was grabbing my arm and pulling it away so he could grab my breasts with his other hand. He went down my shirt, down my bra, continued grabbing my breasts. Then he shoved his hand down my pants and was sticking his fingers inside of me.”

That incident occurred in April 2021.

Four months later, Hill was at the Welcome Inn bar in Fort Bragg. He was out on bail following his arrest related to the alleged assault on his friend’s wife. A woman at the bar testified that she knew Hill’s girlfriend, the mother of his child. Hill tried to put his arm around her when he saw her in the bar, she said, and she pushed him away.

When she left the bar, Hill followed her, she testified. He came up behind her and pulled her into an alley. “He was trying to pull my pants off, and I was on the ground,” she said. “I pushed him in the face, and he ran off. I ran to my boyfriend’s house.”

Hill was present in the courtroom as each woman testified last week and again on Monday. Monday afternoon, Hill took the stand in his own defense.

Hill described negotiating his plea deal, saying prosecutors initially sought a 10-year sentence. He ultimately agreed to a three-year sentence instead for felony attempted sexual penetration with a foreign object and assault with intent to commit rape.

“Would you do the same thing today?” Petersen asked.

“Yes,” Hill replied.

Petersen and Deputy District Attorney Kelsey are expected to deliver closing arguments starting on Tuesday. The case will then be submitted to the jury.