Court documents detail case against Bellingham man suspected of raping woman while out on bail

A Bellingham man out on bail awaiting trial for rape has now been charged for the repeated violent sexual assaults of a second woman over a three-day period in April, Whatcom County Superior Court records show.

Nurlan Levi Varner, 20, was charged April 23 with one count of second-degree rape, one count of second-degree assault and one count of felony harassment. He made his first appearance in court April 22, where a pre-trial no-contact order was put in place between Varner and the woman. His arraignment is scheduled for May 3, court records show.

Varner was arrested shortly after 4:30 a.m. April 22. He is currently in custody at the downtown Whatcom County Jail in lieu of $1 million bail, jail records show.

Varner had previously been out of custody since Sept. 6, 2023 on a $5,000 cash alternative bond for a September 2023 case in which he’s accused of forcibly raping a woman at his home in the 100 block of West Hemmi Road, The Bellingham Herald previously reported.

Varner was charged Sept. 5 in that case with one count of second-degree rape (forcible compulsion), a felony. He pleaded not guilty to the charge Sept. 15. A pre-trial no-contact order was also put in place between Varner and the woman in that case, court documents show.

In the new case, Varner is accused of raping a different woman at least twice, strangling her and threatening to “cut her up into small pieces” between April 15 and April 18, according to court records.

The assault

On April 21, the Bellingham Police Department requested the assistance of the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office in a sexual assault investigation where the victim disclosed a second sexual assault that had occurred in Whatcom County.

The suspect in both sexual assaults is Varner, according to court records.

The second sexual assault is alleged to have occurred in an RV in the parking lot of the Nooksack Northwood Casino, and at least two people were witnesses to the assault, court records state.

A sheriff’s deputy went to Birch Bay State Park, where they interviewed the two witnesses to the second sexual assault. The witnesses told the deputy they both saw Varner “barge into” the RV bathroom, where the woman was getting ready.

The witnesses told the deputy they heard the woman repeatedly say “No” and “Stop” and other statements denying consent for roughly five to 15 minutes. Varner then exited the bathroom with his pants around his legs and was actively pulling them up, the witnesses told the deputy. The RV was processed by crime scene investigators and multiple clothing items and the woman’s cellphones were collected, the court records state.

The deputy then interviewed the woman April 22 at the Whatcom jail. The woman had not been interviewed earlier because she was undergoing a sexual assault nurse examination, also known as a sexual assault kit, at PeaceHealth St. Joseph’s hospital in Bellingham.

The woman told the deputy she had known Varner for only a week and he had sexually assaulted her the first day they met in person. That case is being investigated by Bellingham police, according to court records. The Herald has reached out to Bellingham police for more information on that incident.

The woman told the deputy Varner sexually assaulted her the following day as well. The woman said she was at the Nooksack Northwood Casino with her daughter and daughter’s boyfriend. The woman told the deputy she had messaged several people, including Varner, looking for someone to pick her up from the casino. Varner was the first to arrive, court documents state.

The woman told the deputy she was inside the bathroom of an RV in the parking lot getting ready when Varner entered the bathroom and closed the door. The woman said Varner then violently sexually assaulted her, including strangling her for at least 15 seconds, according to court records.

The woman said she repeatedly tried to fight Varner off and repeatedly told him to stop, including making comments that her children were outside. The woman told the deputy she was eventually able to slap Varner in the face several times, which resulted in him leaving the bathroom, the court records state.

The woman told the deputy she still needed a ride and didn’t want her daughter to know what had happened, so she and Varner walked around the casino for a bit while the woman waited for someone else to come pick her up, the documents state.

While the woman and Varner were walking around the casino, the woman told the deputy that Varner made comments that he “was going to cut her up into little pieces and hide her on his parents land, and no one would ever find her,” according to court records.

The woman told the deputy she believed Varner “was ‘weird enough’ to do it,” court records state.

Approved travel

While Varner was out of custody on bail awaiting trial in the 2023 rape case, the court approved limited travel outside of Whatcom County for him for work purposes.

Records show Varner was allowed to travel to Winthrop, Wash., Feb. 9-11; to Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, March 1-3; and to Tacoma March 18-29.

Varner also received court permission to travel to Bristol Bay in Alaska, where he will work on a boat from June 1 through July 27, according to court records.

It’s unclear at this time whether Varner’s Monday arrest and subsequent charging in the new case will impact his court-authorized travel.

His jury trial in the 2023 rape case has tentatively been set for Aug. 26.

Resources

▪ Brigid Collins Family Support Center: 360-734-4616, brigidcollins.org

Brigid Collins Family Support Center professionals are on-call between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, to answer questions about children, families, abuse prevention or treatment at (360) 734-4616.

▪ Child Protective Services: Washington state hotline for reporting child abuse and neglect, 866-829-2153.

▪ Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services: 24-hour Help Line: 360-715-1563, Email: info@dvsas.org.

▪ Lummi Victims of Crime: 360-312-2015.

▪ Tl’ils Ta’á’altha Victims of Crime: 360-325-3310 or nooksacktribe.org/departments/youth-family-services/tlils-taaaltha-victims-of-crime-program/

▪ Bellingham Police: You can call anonymously at 360-778-8611, or go online at cob.org/tips.

▪ WWU Consultation and Sexual Assault Support Survivor Advocacy Services: 360-650-3700 or wp.wwu.edu/sexualviolence/.

If you or a child is in immediate danger, call 911 and make a report to law enforcement.

To report child abuse or neglect call 1-866-END HARM.