MEDFORD, Ore. – A man who was accused of brutally assaulting his ex-girlfriend pleaded guilty in a Medford courtroom.
Typically, NBC5 News doesn’t name victims, but Mandy Valencia talked openly with the media about the attack that happened nearly four years ago.
She said she was sleeping in her home on June 21, 2018, when she was awoken by footsteps. She opened her eyes and saw her ex-boyfriend, Ryan Daniel Conner, walking toward her bed.
Conner, armed with a rubber mallet and a taser, attacked Valencia. She said she narrowly escaped after the 15-minute struggle where was strangled while being tased. She suffered a concussion and nearly lost her right ear.
The Jackson County District Attorney’s Office said after the assault, officers saw Conner return to his home. After a several-hour standoff, Conner walked out and was taken into custody.
Conner eventually told a detective the weapons he used to attack Valencia were in a backpack hidden a few blocks from her home. When investigators found the backpack, they discovered it also contained night vision goggles, gloves, plastic bags, a stun gun, and 20 strips of pre-cut duct tape.
Prosecutors said Conner admitted to using the night vision headset to sneak into Valencia’s home undetected.
On March 21, 2022, Conner pleaded guilty to attempted murder. He was subsequently sentenced to 7.5 years in prison.
Conner, who has been in the Jackson County Jail since the day of the incident, will serve the remainder of his sentence in the Oregon Department of Corrections.
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, help is available. To speak to someone today, you can call the National Domestic Violence Helpline at 1-800-779-7233.
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