A Rochester man who was initially charged with the assault of a woman, causing her serious injuries, is now facing an attempted murder charge.
The case is one involving domestic abuse that happened in 2012 when the man allegedly assaulted the woman with a baseball bat. When the incident happened, the scene was so graphic and the injuries were so severe that law enforcement urged that the charge be one of attempted murder rather than an assault charge. They felt it was obvious the man tried to kill the woman.
This month, a judge approved the complaint, charging Chad Christensen, 33, with attempted murder. This charge carries an additional charge of attempted second-degree murder with intent, attempted first-degree murder, and first-degree assault causing great bodily harm. The gravity of the crime is what resulted in the additional charges.
According to the court documents, it was October 2012 when Christensen allegedly broke into the home of his estranged wife and hit her in the head with a baseball bat. The woman told officers that Christensen also tried to twist her neck and strangle her.
In the incident, Christensen had allegedly waited on the woman to come home from work. As she walked into her kitchen, that is when she was struck in the head with the baseball bat and choked. The woman said she drifted in and out of consciousness from this point. When she tried to escape, she said that Christensen grabbed her and threatened to take his own life.
According to the report, she was able to convince Christensen that they could fix their marriage, but they would both require medical assistance. Christensen then tried to clean up the blood in the home by using towels and bleach, placing them into large plastic bags.
During this, the woman’s boyfriend arrived and called 911 when he saw Christensen inside the home with his girlfriend.
In the complaint, it is stated that officers found the plastic bags of bloody towels in the back of Christensen’s car, along with bolt cutters, the baseball bat, and bloody clothing.
Christensen does have previous domestic assault convictions, as well as violating a no-contact order and fifth-degree assault.
He is scheduled to go on trial on May 20th where his case will be heard by a jury.