Woman says seeing 'red flags' on dates tipped her off to danger
PORTLAND, Ore. – A local woman considers herself fortunate that she isn't one of the women accusing a man of drugging, then raping or sexually abusing them.
Three different women say Marlin Pohlman of Portland gave them drinks that tasted funny. He's accused of raping one of them, sexually abusing another and assaulting a third.
Pohlman went before a judge Thursday.
The local woman, who doesn't want her identity revealed, said she went on two dates with Pohlman. After meeting him on the free dating website okcupid.com and going on two dinner dates, she said she noticed 'red flags.'
"It wasn't even so much what he was saying, he was very persistent," she said. "After I said no, and he asked again later on, and I was like, 'No, I'm not going to your house tonight.'" Then he said, "'What about tomorrow night?' I was like, 'No, I'm not coming to your house."
It was at Pohlman's home in North Portland, searched Thursday by police, that investigators found two dozen ecstasy pills and two tanks of nitrous.
It was at his home where a housekeeper said she got high inhaling nitrous with Pohlman and where she said he handed her a glass of water that tasted strange and bitter. Then her memory went fuzzy.
She can't remember if he had sex with her.
Pohlman mentions nitrous on his dating profile, saying he custom builds steam punk nitrous hookahs. Steam punk is a subgenre of science fiction, featuring steam-powered machinery.
Pohlman also claims to hold the patent for a time and gravity displacer – basically a time machine.
The local woman says, as someone who counsels others through rape, she feels awful for the women involved.
"He deserves to be punished for everything he did if he's guilty, and they deserve to get the help they need because that's not an easy thing to get over and (they) need support through that," she said.
Pohlman's bail is set at $2 million. A criminal defense attorney he hired said his client vigorously denies the charges.
If you have a story you'd like the On Your Side Investigators to look into email them at investigators@katu.com.
Andrew Luster got 50 years for doing two woman with drugs.
I don't get it. Â There were lots of women who wanted this guy to poke them he didn't need to drug them. Â He is going to be doing a lot of jail time.
He gets 2 million dollar bail when he did not harm or kill anyone but a man who drives drunk and kills a kid, goes free. Women need to stop snitching or pay
@Trickledown No one will every know the true extent of Mr. Pohlman's activities. Don't think that he just woke up a few months ago and started this trend.
If he's got the time machine thing figured out, how come he didn't just go into the future and see which date worked out well for him - then go back in time and NOT date all the others?
That's what I did-after-before the first-last-time.
dont hate the player, hate the game, holla
Everyone keeps saying what a fat degenerate POS this guy is and wondering what kind of women would even date him, well they are probably someone that fits his profile. No one deserves what he did to them, hes a scum bag, but I would put money down that these ladies aren't the type we will be seeing at the gym either. Besides everyone knows that if you have the patent to a time machine you are probably rich$$$ Again They did not deserve what happened to them! If they were willing to come back to his place with him! Shoot he probably could have sealed the deal the legit way.Â
Bet he wishes some of his jail dates would slip him some nitrous.
@yahdayahda He won't mind the nitrous, just the dental work once the nitrous has worn off.
This guy a whole lot of mental and crazy in one big fatty package. Glad someone got turned off by the red flags, just wished the red flags would have raised more caution for others. I hope the Thai hookers didn't get treated like this either.
The patent for a time and gravity displacer should have been the first red flag.
@Julie Oh boy, I'm gonna have to get a new schtick....
@Julie What I thought everybody had one of those!
If you fell for this Psycho's B S then what does that make you? Rape is unacceptable but come on girls, what in this guy's credentials make him a candidate for dating?
@swede760 credentials are a house of cards built up over the years...but if you didn't know the truth the resume is impressive.
@swede760Fell for his BS? Â Which BS is that, when he drugged their drinks? Â Gosh, I'm just asking for it when I allow myself to succumb to date rape drugs I don't know are in my drink.
@Kphrog @swede760 The first hint would be when you are with someone who you do not know well and the drink they serve you tastes weird. The Patent on the Time and Gravity Displacer would be a real good hint as well.
@swede760Â Many people, men and women alike, are willing to settle for a BTN (Better Than Nothing). Â Sadly, that's the bottom line.
@swede760 @sundowner Everyone has their thing that gets their hormones all sorts of excited, for some people, it could be watching Wheel of Fortune in bed and then buying vowels in the missionary position, for others it could be dressing up like a dr. and a nurse and giving eachother physicals, or some people enjoy getting handcuffed in a sling, there's a "fetish" for just about everyone, and sadly, the interests of some of these girls may have caused them to be harmed. Which is horrible.Â
@pdxd  Oh HE11 no, you did NOT just blame the victims for this scumbag's actions!
He talked these women into going to his house while they were sober by telling them he had nitrous and a time machine? Maybe the girls need to think a little before they say yes.
There are quite a few people out there who enjoy nitrous. While at a conservative college, I had roommates that enjoyed inhaling nitrous out of whipped cream canisters, heck, I know people in Portland that will go to the adult stores and buy nitrous devices that are generally used for cake decorating, but they don't intend to frost any cakes with it. I won't judge them about the nitrous. I will judge them on thinking some fat tub of lard has a home-made time-machine. If so, maybe he can go back in time, and not rape these girls.
I used to enjoy nitrous as well when I was drag racing. We had a bottle with a broken valve in the motor home we used at the tracks and didn't know it one time, we had the silliest little kick me dog in the pits that day.
@pdxd @old_dollorMost stores that sell cake decorating supplies have stopped keeping those little canisters out where the public can shoplift them.  Same with DIY pregnancy tests and Ex-Lax.<---Hey, you were the one who said there's a fetish for everything.  =)
@Sundowner @pdxd @old_dollor My first experiance with nitrous. I hate going to the dentist, I have always been afraid to go. I was about 28 years old. The dentist said have you ever had nitrous, I said no, he said well lets try some, it will help you relax some. So I put the mask on he left the room. When he came back he said how are we doing, I was still a bit afraid, so I tryed to look calm and crossed my feet. but when I crossed my feet, my leg FLEW up in the air and denal tools whent flying every place. For years when he came in to see if I was ready for him to start he would say cross your feet.
@old_dollor  Goes to prove, not all "Blondes" are really blonde...they come on all different hair colors!
One look at this guy and ya wonder why a woman would even talk to him.Â
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@Dr. Rawdog I think he was slipping something, maybe GHB into their water. To this day, I can't say with absolute certainty but I think an acquaintance had slipped me GHB a decade ago.
"It was at his home where a housekeeper said she got high inhaling nitrous with Pohlman and where she said he handed her a glass of water that tasted strange and bitter.",,,, The nitrous was the come on, the pills were the means of incapacitating them.
@FireEyes @Dr. Rawdog  Maybe I'm old school and I can kinda sorta see the nitrous, but drinking something that tasted strange and bitter when it was supposed to be water?  Not gonna happen to me.
It's Portland - when doesn't the water taste strange and bitter.
@Sundowner @FireEyes @Dr. Rawdog You like those costco 3 packs of whip cream!
I remember in high school 30 years ago friends that worked at the local grocery store would suck the nitrous out of the whip cream cans then put them back. I imagine there were a lot of disappointed shoppers that were only able to get half the whip cream out of the can before it ran out of steam...
If found guilty, then this perverted coward deserves the harshest punishment available by law. I hope if there are other victims they have the courage to come forward to tell their story to law enforcement.Â
@DeaconBugg I think in-mates will have special stiff punishments of their own for the sick piece of poo
@pdxd He's huge, like 6' 4" or more, and very crafty. I can guarantee he's already contemplating how to rule over the minds of men there. You can see it in his eyes when he greets his lawyer, the way he examines the paperwork. No remorse, just the cold contemplation of the web he's weaved.
Pohlman also claims to hold the patent for a time and gravity displacer â basically a time machine. Â ohlman mentions nitrous on his dating profile, saying he custom builds steam punk nitrous hookahs
Thoes two statements right there would have been a pass for me. Never would I have contacted him. My first thought... Twilight Zone!!!
In no way do I want to accuse the victims in this, but really ? You date someone from a web site ? Â
Listen to my words for both of you......  Desperate people do desperate things !
@dougrpdx Once I found myself single after many years of marriage I tried online dating, it wasn't that bad, just like anywhere, met some nice girls and not so nice girls, the same as any other dating method.
Dating websites are the most common place for relationships nowadays. Dating at work? That could lead to sexual harassment if things go bitter. Dating at church? Prospects could get pretty slim, pretty quickly if everyone's married. I know quite a few people who have met their spouses, or future spouses via the internet. It's definitely not as desperate as hanging at the singles bar, and probably much safer, since the internet connection can be traced back, whereas, there's no way to trace a singles-bar pickup
@dougrpdx So judgmental...  LOTS of people date someone from a web site. It's the world we live in these days- is it better to date someone you meet randomly at a bar or church function? I don't think that's the alarming or troublesome aspect of this story.Â
What is odd to me is that many people seem to be blaming the victim. A woman looks passed the exterior & is willing to get to know someone and is then assaulted. Does this mean all fat people are dangerous degenerates? Hardly. Quit making assumptions about the character of these women.  Many of your comments are demeaning, degrading & reveal your own disrespect towards women in general.Â
I agree with you. All fat people are dangerous degenerates.
@Jessica R. Abbit Just because he's a fatty doesn't make him repulsive, his belief that he has built a time-machine makes me sound like a nut-job. And I'm sorry, but if someone is giving off a creepy vibe, and says they built a time-machine, I don't think I'm going to their house. But this isn't the victims fault, this man consciously decided to violate the trust of his victims, and a victim can't be blamed for him making that decision.
@Jessica R. AbbitYou know he is into punk nitrous hookahs, I guarantee that a man like that said plenty of alarming stuff on your first date and yet you go into his house expecting what exactly - time travel? No excuses for this pos, but girls...
@Julie @Jessica R. Abbit If he took you to a $200 meal and had a $3000 suit on, you might not really notice. If your at the table you've already been profiled, the "steam" punk nitrous hookahas wouldn't be mentioned unless he thought you where into it too.
Kudos, Jessica. Seems there are a bunch of people who don't understand the concept that beauty is only skin deep.
Looking at this fat trash dude, I can't imagine much first impressions. Â Now, maybe he has a persuasive personality, Hitler like even. But what I'm curious is what kind of women responds and even goes with this guy? Â Not deriding women out there, but just curious what kind of matchup are we looking at? Purely scientific, based on looks.
@Benjamin Schniffle If you stare to long into the Abyss, sometimes the Abyss stares back. Be careful shining a light into Marlin's darkness.
Chicks are not women, they are just stupid chicks. Grow up girls and become intelligent ladies known as women! OK, maybe I have that backwards, "Intelligent women known as ladies".
I would have thought that "claiming to hold a patent on a time and gravity displacer" would pretty much zero out your dating life.
@al_02Â It's not easy to be "an ignorant slut", just ask Jane Curtain.