Jasper man arrested for attempted murder and strangulation

Casey Myers, 34, of 412 E. 7th Street, is charged with a Level 1 felony count of attempted murder and a Level 6 felony count of strangulation after he allegedly took a serrated steak knife to his ex-wife’s throat Monday night.

Myers, who is being held at the Dubois County Security Center without bond, entered a preliminary plea of not guilty and was assigned pauper counsel by Judge Mark McConnell during his arraignment today.

Myers was arrested after Jasper police were called to his residence by his ex-wife’s girl friend. She had accompanied her to Myers’ home to pick up Christmas presents and clothing for the couple’s children.

According to court documents, Myers and his ex-wife had attempted to work things out and she had moved back into the home with him. However, by last Saturday, she had moved out of the home again.

While they were in the home’s attic to get the presents, Myers made a threatening remark regarding the ex-wife and their children, according to court documents. The friend reported that when the three were back in the children’s room packing up clothes, Myers grabbed his ex-wife, threw her against the wall and began to choke her.

She attempted to intervene by punching Myers but he continued to attack his ex-wife. She ran out of the house to the neighbors for help. They called 911 and then returned to Myers’ residence where they found that he had locked the door to the home.

They banged on the door until Myers opened it. According to the friend, he came out of the house holding a beer and cigarette and sat down on the porch.

Meanwhile, she went into the house while the neighbor made sure Myers didn’t leave before police got there.

According to court documents, she found Myers’ ex-wife on the floor with a “big hole” in her neck.

Memorial Hospital Emergency Medical Services responded and transported the victim to the hospital where she was stabilized before being transferred to St. Mary’s Medical Center. She is currently listed in a stable condition.

Responding Jasper detectives reported that the ex-wife was choked until she lost consciousness and then Myers cut her throat with a serrated steak knife from the kitchen. According to court documents, there were no other defensive wounds on the victim which had led them to believe she was no longer conscious when Myers allegedly cut her.

Detectives recovered the knife at the scene.

Jasper Sgt. Jeremy Lee, a 22-year patrol veteran, will replace Detective Sgt. Rick Chambers when he retires at the end of the year. Chambers is moving to an investigative position with the Dubois County Prosecuting Attorney’s office and Lee will officially take over as the department’s new detective February 7.

“It was very violent,” Lee said about the incident. “One of the worst I’ve seen in my career.”

He credited the neighbor and friend in saving the victim’s life with their quick actions. “I give the neighbor and girlfriend a lot of credit,” Lee said. “He put his own personal safety aside and went over to the house, banged on the door and made sure Myers didn’t leave until police arrived.”

Myers is scheduled to be back in court on January 8, 2016 for a pretrial conference.