Blake and Misty Seylhouwer
Local news reports
The trial of a Madeira man accused of shooting a gun in the direction of his wife, sending chunks of concrete her way, injuring her, is underway.
Blake Seylhouwer is accused of firing a shot at his wife outside their Madeira home back in August.
The shot hit the pavement about 10 feet from her. She was struck by chunks of concrete and the bullet, sending her to the hospital.
Opening statements were heard Tuesday morning, and both sides agree that Blake Seylhouwer’s marriage to his wife Misty was falling apart in August of 2014.
During opening statements, Seylhouwer's attorney said it was an accidental shooting and said everything else in the case is irrelevant.
But prosecutor Jeff Heile called Seylhouwer a manipulative man who was threatening suicide as a means of controlling his wife after cheating on her.
Officials said Seylhouwer was ordered to not have any contact with his estranged wife, but investigators said he violated that protection order when he sent her text messages and canceled her credit cards.
She had thrown him out of the house. He came back and picked up his hunting rifle, and that's when she wound up hurt.
Heile said Misty Seylhouwer heard her husband cock the rifle right before it went off. That could be the key bit of information in this case.
Seylhouwer is charged with two counts of felonious assault and a charge of domestic violence.
I wonder if he had an explanation for his intending to transport an uncased rifle in his car which is pretty commonly illegal.
ReplyDeleteBad laws be damned, ss.
DeleteI only mention it because it points to his intent. For example, all of my arms are individually cased and trigger locked, so I need but carry it to the car for legal transport. I wonder if they are bringing up evidence showing he uncased the weapon when he got it.
DeleteAnd then him violating the protection order by entering the house kinda throws the accidental thing in the ditch too.
Yeah, he was a hidden criminal all right. I had the impression he tried to scare his ex, for which he should go to jail and lose the guns.
Delete"Blake Seylhouwer is accused of firing a shot at his wife outside their Madeira home back in August.
ReplyDeleteThe shot hit the pavement about 10 feet from her. She was struck by chunks of concrete and the bullet, sending her to the hospital."
Isn't that attempted murder?
"Seylhouwer is charged with two counts of felonious assault and a charge of domestic violence."
DeleteSo its two counts of aggravated assault. I suppose it would depend on state law as to requirements to charge attempted murder. I am a bit puzzled as to how you get two counts with one shot. Can anyone clarify that for me?
Depends if the prosecutor thinks he can prove that the guy was trying to kill her and was that bad a shot or if he was just trying to scare her. If it's the latter, it's assault with a deadly weapon (probably what "felonious assault" means in that jurisdiction). Had the concrete or ricochet killed her it would be a murder charge--possibly first degree murder depending on the state's felony murder statute.
DeleteHis only hope is to convince the jury it was an accident and not intentional. I doubt he'll manage that, because if it was true, that would put him in the running for the most unlucky S.O.B. ever.
Maybe the shot was one attempt and the ricochet and injury was another. I'm no lawyer just seems the way it was described, he tried to shot her.
Delete" I'm no lawyer just seems the way it was described, he tried to shot her. "
DeletePossibly, I don't get the legal beer math involved in adding up various counts. Perhaps someone else here has a better grasp on that. However, the aggravated assault charges are quite appropriate and I suspect there will be a conviction unless someone screwed up on the prosecution side.
Sort of hard to claim it was an accident while you're in the process of violating a protection order. I also imagine there is another charge or three that haven't made the headlines.
Shelly,
DeleteYour theory may be true, but I have never seen a statute written in such a way as to allow two charges for one shot on that theory. I have seen double charges for the specific assault of the one person and the general fear and danger put on people downrange, though most would use reckless endangerment for the latter. Another possibility is that there was some time between him getting the gun and firing it and he did something threatening in that period so that he's charged once for that and once for the shot.