GRAND RAPIDS (WWJ) - A 30-year-old man accused of torture will remain in jail during court proceedings after he allegedly used jumper cables to electrocute his bound wife in the basement of their Grand Rapids home.
A judge revoked the man's bond over safety concerns after hearing the shocking testimony from his wife in a hearing held on Tuesday, April 25.
“I just have a serious concern about what happened,” Grand Rapids District Court Judge MIchael Distel said via Mlive. “I feel compelled to take that action.”
The man, who is not being name to protect his wife's identity, was charged with two counts of torture in the March 24th incident and faces potentially life in prison. His bond was originally set at $500,000 before it was revoked.
The judge's decision was made following the hearing where the man's wife reluctantly described how she and her husband had gotten into an argument over whether or not she was having an affair.
Photographic evidence of a pair of jumper cables was presented by the Kent County Assistant Prosecutor. The woman confirmed that the items were used by her husband to electrocute her during the argument.
She told the judge that she didn't want to appear in court and that she and her husband shared two young children, ages 2 and 4.
“I don’t want anyone to look like a terrible person,” she stated.
According to court documents, the woman told Grand Rapids police officers that her husband tied her up to a swing in the basement of their home that evening. He used wire to secure her arms and back and metal zip ties around her ankles before questioning her.
When she gave an answer her husband didn't like, the man took the jumper cables -- which were attached to an exposed wire in the basement -- and shocked her.
The woman told police she was bound for about five hours before her husband got tired and let her go.
She also mentioned that this wasn't the first alarming altercation between the two.
The wife told officers that two months prior, her husband had her go down into the basement and get on top of a bucket. As stated in court documents, the man wrapped electrical cord hanging from the ceiling around her neck.
At one point, the woman said she slipped and fell off the bucket and was being hung before her husband stepped in to help her.
She did not go to police until after the March 24 incident.
Distel heard from the man's defense attorney on Tuesday, who asked to lower his client's $500,000 bond, but the judge ruled the opposite.
“The court has ongoing, escalated concerns about the victim’s safety,” he said before revoking the man's bond entirely.
Prosecutors have offered the husband a plea deal. If he pleads guilty to one count of torture, the second count will be dismissed.