BILLINGS - A Billings man has been charged with attempted deliberate homicide for an attack on his wife that prosecutors said she might not survive.
Jesse Jon Strack appeared Tuesday for arraignment in Yellowstone County District Court by video from the county jail. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and bond was set at $500,000.
Strack, 44, was arrested Friday after police were sent to a residence on Wyoming Avenue for a report of an overdose.
According to court documents, Strack reported that M.S., a 46-year-old woman, was unresponsive when dispatch received a call from him at approximately 1:30 p.m. The initial call was logged as a possible drug overdose.
Strack indicated that M.S. had hit him several times before her injuries occurred, suggesting that she likely fell. He said he found her by a bathtub and was trying to revive her with water before deciding to call 911.
The woman was taken to a Billings hospital, and a police detective said that her injuries did not align with an overdose. Toxicology reports showed no illegal drugs in her system.
A detective said M.S. may have suffered injuries consistent with strangulation. She also suffered a broken neck, and "both of her carotoid arteries were dissected," court records state. Her survival was uncertain.
While the woman was at the hospital, Strack was reportedly involved in a vehicle crash and was subsequently transported to the hospital. At the hospital, he refused medical treatment and exhibited erratic behavior, court records state, including grinning while claiming he had done nothing wrong.
When questioned further by police, Strack allegedly said: "I would like to be able to point you in the right direction, usually I just dump her in the shower and pour cold water water all over her but this time it didn't work in a matter of seconds, and it was off to the races and 911."
Police also said video from a home security system at the residence showed Strack and the woman having a physical altercation shortly before the 911 call, court records state, and some of the recordings had been deleted.
