As reported by the Montgomery News a man has been sentenced to prison for 15 to 34 years followed by 10 years of probation for causing "severe and permanent" injuries to both his wife and daughter during a 2011 domestic-related crime.
Assistant District Attorney, and the leader of the district attorney's domestic violence prosecution unit, Wallis Brooks, said, "This was a heinous event that occurred in the middle of the night as two women were sound asleep. He expressed his intent to kill them and he came armed with duct tape, twine and two knives. It was a sneak attack. He was ready to inflict horrendous pain and kill them. The injuries were severe and permanent."
T.S., 51, pleaded guilty – but mentally ill – to attempted murder, aggravated assault and possessing an instrument of crime.
Judge Garrett D. Page, in referencing the specific instrument – a knife – said, "This was a very nasty, dangerous episode. Those (physical and psychological) scars are not going to go away."
At the time of the attack T.S. and his wife were experiencing marital discord, and, according to Brooks, that is typically a bad sign for women already in an abusive relationship. Brooks said, "I classify that as one of the most dangerous times in a relationship and I see it quite frequently in my work."
The attempted murder charge refers to the contact between T.S. and his wife and the aggravated assault charge refers to his contact with the couple's 18 year-old daughter.
T.S. underwent a psychiatric evaluation while preparing for trial, and the guilty but mentally ill plea was the result. According to Judge Page, it will be up to the state prison officers to determine what type of mental health facility T.S. will be placed in.
The order, for T.S. to steer clear of his wife and two daughters for the next 44 years, came from the judge.
T.S., stating that he only hopes to be reunited with his family someday, said, "I feel ashamed for what happened and deeply hurt."
In the early morning of June 12, the victims – who had fled to the home of a neighbor – alerted police that T.S. had stabbed them.
An affidavit filed by Upper Providence Detective William Dixon read that T.S. "had tried to kill (his wife) while she was lying in bed" and the daughter said that she received a stab wound to her arm when she came to her mother's aid.
T.S.'s wife testified that while she slept, T.S. entered her bedroom, sat on her chest, tried to place a strip of duct tape over her mouth to silence her and then held a kitchen knife to her throat. The woman said that T.S. then told her that "he was going to make her feel the pain that he felt" because she had embarrassed him.
Dixon alleged, "The defendant told her that he had been planning this for weeks and that they were both going to die together tonight. He then told her that he was glad her daughter was sleeping because he was going to kill her also."
When T.S. allegedly discarded the kitchen knife for a folding knife, Dixon said that the woman "was able to pick up the knife that he had first used and stabbed him as he came towards her."
When the woman let out a scream her daughter came to her aid. There was a struggle, which eventually ended when one of the victims gained hold of a chair and hit T.S. with it.
The two women then fled the home.
If you have been the victim of domestic violence contact a family law attorney for help. For your own safety and the safety of your children don't wait until you are trying to end an abusive relationship.