AndrewBlakePalm Coast, Fla. – A Florida man tried to electrocute his pregnant wife by rigging the front door of his home with wiring attached to a car battery charger.
He also changed his Facebook status to “widowed,” before she even got home.
Michael Wilson, 32, was arrested in Knoxville, Tenn. on Dec. 28 and charged with two counts of attempted aggravated battery on a pregnant person, and one count of grand theft of a firearm, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported.
“This is one of the most bizarre domestic violence cases I have seen in my career,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement.
“Not only did this man try to electrocute his wife, but he could have injured a deputy or any person attempting to enter this residence. Thankfully this man was found and taken into custody before he could cause the harm he intended,” Sheriff Staly said.
Police said Wilson attached electrical devices to the inside of the deadbolt lock and the door handle of the couple’s house, and advised his wife to “use the front door” when she got home because the garage door wasn’t working.
The plot was to have her insert her key into the door lock and then grab the handle, completing the circuit to send a jolt of electricity through her arm, chest, and heart. Police said it could have easily killed her.
Fortunately for Wilson’s wife, she was out of town in Knoxville with family.
On Dec. 26, Jon Flositz, Wilson’s wife’s stepfather, became suspicious after she told him that Wilson had warned her not to let a child touch the front door.
He went to examine the house and found the word “Hi,” and a drawing of two eyes, written in what appeared to be lipstick, on the back sliding door, according to the police.
Flositz contacted the police and when they arrived, they found the front door was barricaded and locked.
Burn marks were seen near the door’s handle, and when police kicked in the door, it set off a big spark, the News-Journal reported.
Police found that the inside of the door was elaborately rigged with two chairs, a child’s high chair, blue tape, a shower rod, electrical cords, wiring, and a car battery charger with clamps.
The News-Journal reported that a Facebook page belonging to Wilson listed him as “widowed,” and showed him gripping two handguns, with the message that he “is the guy that your father warned you about.”