In her own words: Hairdresser details sexual encounter with Eric Greitens

The House Special Investigative Committee looking into allegations against Gov. Eric Greitens issued its report today and it does not reflect well on the governor.

The Turner Report will have more on the report later. This post includes the testimony of Witness I, the hairdresser who allegedly was the victim of blackmail from the governor,

The details leading to their first sexual encounter and that encounter are detailed below.



Quotes from Witness I are printed in regular type, with the statements leading to those quotes printed in italic:

Witness 1, a hair stylist, met Greitens in 2013, when he became her client.

"He became a regular client of mine. And – I don’t know. I saw him pretty regularly, unless he was traveling. Seemed pretty typical…we got to know each other pretty well, and I thought he was great. I thought he was this perfect guy. I probably knew too much about what he had maybe done in the past, as far as I knew that he was an author, I knew he was a motivational speaker, I knew he was a Navy SEAL. I knew he had volunteered at the Mother Theresa House. I don’t want to say that he was speaking highly of himself, but he found a way to tell me these things, and so I just thought he was wonderful."

From the fall of 2014 to March 2015, Greitens did not make any appointments with Witness  Then, on or about March 7, 2015, Greitens returned for a haircut:

"When I saw Eric was coming in that time, I was super nervous because he was one of – you know, really, my only client that I had somewhat of a crush on and thought he was this great guy, and so I just felt kind of nervous having him come in, and because I thought that maybe he didn’t come in to see me after that time because he felt bad flirting with me, because he was having a baby soon."

Witness 1 testified that, during the March 7 appointment, Greitens moved his hand up her leg and “all the way up to [her] crotch” without her consent. On or about March 7, Greitens attempted to call Witness 1 on her cell phone, but she did not answer. Witness 1 explained her feelings:

"I was at least curious. Did he have the same feelings for me? Was he going through something similar with his wife? Why did he feel like he could do that? Because he didn’t know I was separated. So, anyway – so I was at least curious. I didn’t want to talk to him, but I did want him to call me."

On or about March 14, Witness 1 called Greitens while she was out with friends in the Central West End area of St. Louis. Witness 1 testified: [

"We were trying to have a conversation in code of sorts, like, I’m really – my friend is really curious – she’s in a situation. She was really curious what happened and why…you know, it was kind of in code. The way he was talking, I could tell he was most likely at his house because he wasn’t really talking. And – so he said, Actually – hey can you meet me outside of Starbucks in an alley – oh, because he asked me where I was, and I said – I was in the Central West End with some of my friends."


They met for a few minutes in an alleyway behind Starbucks. There was no sexual contact during this meeting. Witness 1 testified:

"He asked where I was, and I said I was at a restaurant in the Central West End – a Mexican restaurant there. And he said, 'Well, can you meet me in a few minutes in the alleyway behind Starbucks, because I think I have a solution to your friend’s problem.' So I said, 'Okay.' And I went over to kind of where he was talking about behind the Starbucks, and I was, like, shaking, because I was nervous to even be talking to him like this. And he kind of hugged me and just said, Listen, calm down, it’s not – it’ll be okay. I have an idea of, you know, of a time when we can talk about this openly. Next weekend, my wife is going out of town, you can come over to my house, we can discuss these things, because … I have to get back to my house in a minute."

On Friday, March 20, Witness 1 called Greitens from her salon and told him, “I don’t feel comfortable coming to your house, can you please meet me at Starbucks or Coffee Cartel?” Greitens responded that he could not be seen in public with her because he was running for office and people would be watching him, especially in the Central West End. Instead, he insisted they meet at his house where she could “come in through the back door, nobody will see you, we can talk, you can get back to work, it’ll be fine."


Witness 1 arrived at the backdoor to Greitens’ home at approximately 7 a.m. on Saturday, March 21. Witness 1 had to be at work by approximately 7:45 a.m. that morning. Upon entering the home, Greitens made a “shush motion” to Witness 1, took her purse and keys, removed all items from her purse and searched it, patted her down from head-to-toe, and then went back outside to check if anyone had seen her enter the home. Witness 1 testified that she was nervous, and Greitens attempted to calm her down. Greitens asked if she could come back later after she finished working. Witness 1 informed him that she would be finished at 4:00 p.m., but that she had to pick her children up at that time so she could not return that afternoon. Witness 1 then testified to the following:

"He said, 'Well, okay, I have this idea. And I thought about you so much, and I have this idea, and it’s to make you feel good. I feel like you haven’t been treated good in so long.' And I said, 'Well, I want to talk to you. I want to know what is going on in your relationship. You don’t even know what’s going on in mine.' And he said, 'I know…but we don’t have a whole lot of time. Have you exercised today?'

"It was like he was on a mission, sort of, like this kind of high energy – it was kind of high energy. And I said, 'No I haven’t exercised.' And he said, 'Will you let me take you through an exercise – like, through a workout? I just have this idea. It’s going to make you feel so good' and – for whatever reason, I trusted him, thought this is okay, this is – somehow we’re going to get to this – I don’t know – I’m going to leave here feeling more clarified that, obviously, he has feeling for me.

Witness 1 explained that Greitens had prepared clothes for her to change into:

"So he said, 'I have these clothes I want you to put on. He had clothes sitting on his countertop. I want you to go change into these – take off all of your stuff – take off everything you’re wearing and put on these clothes.' And I just kind of looked at him like, Oh, God, what do you have? And he said, 'Just trust me. … I just want to make you feel good.' So I went – he has, like, a little bathroom off his kitchen, and I went in there, changed into these clothes. The shirt was his – like, a man’s white T-shirt that he had cut a slit at the top, and the pants were men’s pajama pants."

When Witness 1 emerged from the bathroom wearing the clothes Greitens had set out for her, Witness 1 testified that Greitens told her he would show her “how to do a proper pull-up.” Witness 1 testified that she believed “this is going to be some sort of sexy workout.”

“I thought this was going to be some sort of, like, sexy workout. I knew he – he had asked if I worked out that morning. I knew he – he said he had this idea that – something that would be – make me feel really good and I did work out, because he wanted to take me through a workout. And at this point I thought – we hadn’t worked out together ever, so I thought, Oh, maybe it’ll be some sort of – I don’t know – sexy workout.”

Witness 1 testified that she “was shocked” and “confused” at that point in time:

I still really thought he was perfect. He definitely knew – I know I had made it clear I had not cheated on my husband before and that, you know, I didn’t want to do anything physical with him. So I think I was just confused, kind of shocked. And I was curious enough – he likes me this much that he has something planned for our workout? I don’t know. I – I guess more than anything, confused.”

At that point, Witness 1 testified that she would not have been “okay with a normal sexual encounter with him if he said, Hey I just want to have sex in the basement.” When asked if she thought she was being led into a “a situation,” Witness 1 testified:

I did. But at this point, not a bad situation...More that he had a plan and – like I said, I think I really thought maybe he will, you know, have some sort of sexy workout planned, which is why – because he said, Change your clothes into these, and I said, What do you mean? And he said, I just want to take you through a workout, come on. Just trust me. I want to make you feel good. And I just feel like you haven’t been treated good in so long. So at this point, it was more curiosity / confusion.

Upon entering the basement, Witness 1 testified that Greitens taped her hands to pull-up rings with “this gauzed tape stuff” and then put a blindfold on her. Witness 1 testified that these items were laying on a “workout bench right there, and that’s where he had that stuff.”

Witness 1 testified to Greitens’ demeanor at the time, stating, “[H]e kind of had this controlling sort of – again, it almost as if he had a – like we were on a movie set. So he’s got this whole thing down of what he was going to say or whatever, but he was super – he was in a controlled state, which at this point was intriguing to me.” Witness 1 testified that Greitens then spit water into her mouth: 

"And then he said, First, before we start a workout, you have to be hydrated and puts water in his mouth and tries to spit it in my mouth, at which point I realized he’s trying to kiss me, but I don’t even want to kiss him. … So I just spit it out. He does it and he’s like, You’re not going to be a bad girl, are you? Tries to do it again, to which I just let it dribble out, because I didn’t even want to kiss him."

Witness 1 testified that she had not spoken to that point, and that Greitens then, “[S]tarts kissing down my neck and he starts kissing kind of like down to my chest. And he takes the shirt and rips it open.” Witness 1 testified that she did not consent to Greitens’ tearing of the shirt, exposing her. Witness 1 testified that Greitens then commented on a scar on Witness 1’s stomach, before “kissing down [her] stomach” and “pull[ing] down [her] pants.”

Witness 1 testified she did not consent to Greitens pulling her pants down to her ankles. After Greitens pulled down her pants, Witness 1 testified, “[T]hen I hear him kind of, like, step back – take a step back and I hear – I can hear like a, like a cell phone – like a picture, and I can see a flash through the blindfold.” Witness 1 testified that she felt like her “privacy was invaded.” Witness 1 testified that she never saw an actual picture. Nor did she recall “the first time she saw his phone.”

On April 9, 2018, the Committee was made aware of a motion filed in the criminal case by Greitens’ counsel that asserted Witness 1 testified as follows: 

Q: Did you ever see him in possession of a camera or phone? 

A: Not to my knowledge. I didn’t see him with it. 

Q: And as you sit here now, you cannot state under oath that you ever saw him in possession of a camera – with a camera or a phone? 

A: Correct. 

Q: And you can’t say you saw it on his person, you can’t say you saw him put it down in the kitchen, take it from the kitchen, or put it down anywhere in the basement. Those are all correct statements, are they not? 

A: Yes, I cannot say. The motion notes that, when asked by the Assistant Circuit Attorney, “did you see what you believed to be a phone?” Witness 1 answered, “… I haven’t talked about it because I don’t know if it’s because I’m remembering it through a dream or I – I’m not sure, but yes, I feel like I saw it after that happened, but I haven’t spoken about it because of that.”

When asked whether she had reason to believe a photograph of her was transmitted in a way that allowed access via a computer, Witness 1 stated she knew “he had an iPhone … And if he had iCloud, yes.” 

The committee does not possess any physical or electronic evidence of a photograph or its transmission. Witness 1 testified that Greitens then said, “You’re not going to mention my name. Don’t even mention my name to anybody at all, because if you do, I’m going to take these pictures, and I’m going to put them everywhere I can. They are going to be everywhere, and then everyone will know what a little whore you are.” Witness 1 explained her reaction:

I just stood there, because I was like What the f---? He doesn’t have feelings for me, he just wants to f--- me. So anyways, I was completely silent. I didn’t say anything, especially – so I didn’t even – my husband traveled for a living, and I didn’t even let him get pictures of me. So I just stood there quietly, and then he came up close to me and he said, Are you going to say anything? Are you going to mention my name? Of course, in my head, I was screaming, F---, all I want to do is tell people right now. I’m dying. This is the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to me. So I just didn’t answer at all, and then he spanked me and said, Are you going to mention my name? And I said – I just gritted through my teeth and I said, No. And he’s like Good – now that’s a good girl and was, like, back in his – whatever – you know, the thing that he had in his mind, the thing that he was going to do with me.

Witness 1 testified that Greitens began kissing down her stomach again, and “as soon as he got, like, low on me, I just started freaking out and I started ripping down my hands. I was like, Get me out of here. I’m not ready for this. I don’t want this. I don’t want this.” Witness 1 described her emotions at that point:

I was definitely fearful. I was so embarrassed and ashamed, because I really felt like a whore because I had let him get me in this position before we’ve even kissed. I felt really used. I felt like what the – who are you? I think it was the thing that just kept playing through my mind is, who are you? What is this? What is this? Oh, my God, where am I? Get me out of here – because I just kept saying, Get me out of here. I’m not ready for this. It was also, too, that feeling of, I came here not wanting to do anything – nothing.

Witness 1 testified that after she stated, “I don’t want this,” Greitens “stood up and started helping me take down this tape. He was like…calm down, it’s okay. It’s okay.” Witness 1 testified that she responded by stating, “No I’m leaving, I’m leaving.” However, as soon as she “start[ed] walking out – or going to go up the stairs, … he grabs me and like – like, in a bear hug, and was like, Shh, shh, it’s okay, calm down, calm down, and like, lays me down on this ground in the basement. … Not, like, hard, like – I mean, I was like a puddle of – no. I just, like, was crying.” Witness 1 then testified:

So he was laying there and I was laying next to him just crying – like uncontrollably crying. And he was like, Shh, shh, it’s okay, it’s okay. That’s all he was really saying at this point. And he was trying to, like fondle my body. … I’m bawling my eyes out. Yeah, so I’m still crying. And then he’s like – I can tell he’s still, like, in it – he’s still in this – in this thing that he’s got in his mind of whatever he’s doing, and he’s still like messing with me.

He starts undoing his pants, and he takes his penis out and puts it, like, near where my face is. And I’m like – so this guy literally just wants me for this, and this is all he wants, and then he’ll let me – because at this point, too, I also know I have to be at work, and he’s not going to let me leave, because he’s obviously still horny. So I gave him oral sex at this point.

Witness 1 further testified that Greitens pulled his pants down and “pulled his penis out…max, six inches or something” from her face while she was still crying and felt that she had no other choice if she were going to get out of the basement. As to whether she consented to oral sex at that point, Witness 1 testified, “It’s a hard question because I did it – it felt like consent, but, no, I didn’t want to do it.” She further explained, “Coerced, maybe. I felt as though that would allow me to leave. That’s what he wanted – I felt that’s what he wanted….” Witness 1 then agreed with the statement that she “didn’t feel necessarily able to leave without performing oral sex.” She further testified, “Looking back, yes” she believed that saying no when she was bound and blind-folded extended to not consenting to further contact, but, “In the moment, I was so emotional” and that one of the emotions was “definitely” fear for her “physical self.”

Later, Witness 1 presented conflicting testimony as to whether she was physically afraid at that particular moment. When directly asked, “Did you feel afraid to leave?,” she answered, “No. Not at this point. I feel like he hadn’t gotten what he wanted,” but also affirming she was crying, under duress, felt as if she had no other choice if she was going to get out of the basement at that moment, and that it was only after feeling she had no other choice that she performed oral sex. 

Witness 1 testified that after performing oral sex, “He did exactly what I thought he would do. He was just like, Okay. I literally got up – he didn’t stop me from leaving. I walked upstairs, went into the bathroom, got dressed, and left and went to work.”

 Witness 1 forgot her keys and had to return to Greitens’ house to retrieve them after work. Witness 1 testified that Greitens was waiting for her when she returned at the end of her workday at 4:00 p.m. She testified that she then confronted Greitens about the picture:

He was already in the kitchen and opened the door and said, You forgot your keys. I said, Yeah. And I was obviously pissed. And he said, You’re angry. And I said, I’m really angry. I’m so angry. That is not at all what I wanted to do, Eric. And he said, I know, I know, I just – I kept thinking about you. And I said, No, you took a freaking picture of me. My husband doesn’t even have a picture of me. You took a picture of me. And he said, I know…but you have to understand, I’m running for office, and people will get me, and I have to have some sort of thing to protect myself. And I thought about you, though, and I felt bad, so I erased it. To which – you know, I didn’t believe him, but at least, he, like, acknowledged that it was messed up and had a reason why.

Witness 1 further testified that after she and Greitens talked for a while:

He was back to kind of being that guy that I knew from the salon. It was extremely charismatic, very – kept looking at me straight in my eyes and engaged – like, I felt like he cared about me. He kept trying to hug me and touch me and kind of fondle me, meaning, like maybe hugging me and trying to put his hand up my shirt. And at this point, it – I was really kind of mixed, because I hated him from earlier, but I also loved the man that I knew before.