Man pleaded guilty to 2017 kidnapping of 94-year-old woman in Scottsdale

PHOENIX — A suspect accused of kidnapping a 94-year-old woman from her home, locking her in the trunk of her car and abandoning the car in a Scottsdale shopping mall last year has pleaded guilty to the charges.

Sgt. Ben Hoster, a spokesman for the Scottsdale Police Department, said in a statement that Ian Nielsen pleaded guilty to charges of attempted second-degree murder and kidnapping.

Nielsen will be sentenced on Friday.

He was accused of kidnapping the unidentified woman on Nov. 7, 2017, when he took her from her home in the area of 68th Street and Camelback Road, tied her up and shoved her into the trunk of her car.

The woman was able to escape from the car, which was left in the parking lot at the Scottsdale Fashion Square, about seven hours after the ordeal began.

Nielsen was taken into custody about a week after the kidnapping. According to police, he said he did it because he was in need of drugs and money.

The woman will not speak at the sentencing, as she is “still traumatized by Ian’s action that day and is unable to bring herself to face him,” but her family and several investigators will speak on her behalf.

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