Accused of throwing a chair, lamp and door at his girlfriend before cutting her throat with a box knife, a Rozet, Wyoming, man could face between 20 years and life in prison if convicted.
Edward William Rusher, 47, is charged with one count of attempted second-degree murder. He was arrested Thursday evening in Gillette, says an evidentiary affidavit written by Campbell County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Josh Knittel.
The investigation started at about 7 p.m. Thursday, when Crook County dispatch volleyed a 911 call to Campbell County dispatch of a woman saying, “He slashed my throat.”
The phone call cut off shortly after that, the affidavit says.
Crook County traced the call to an address in Rozet, and Campbell County deputies responded.
Deputy Brenden Lloyd arrived to find a 52-year-old woman who had a 3-to 4-inch cut on her neck, about a quarter-inch deep on the right side, says the affidavit.
She said her live-in boyfriend, Rusher, had made the slash, the document says, adding that Rusher had fled the home.
Emergency responders took the woman to Campbell County Memorial Hospital to receive treatment in the form of “several stitches,” Knittel wrote.
The affidavit says deputies in the home noticed a bedroom door had been kicked off the hinges and lay on the floor, and a dresser had been knocked over in the couple’s shared bedroom.
Agents found Rusher on Dogwood Avenue near Sunflower Elementary School near the Gillette Police Department, wrote Knittel. They conducted a traffic stop on his 2001 Buick LeSabre, arrested him and took him to the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office, where Knittel interviewed him.
His hands, face, forehead, nose, chin and clothing all were stained with blood, the document says, adding that he had a visible cut on his chin.
He was bloody because he crashed a car, said Rusher when first asked, according to the affidavit.
“Rusher then stated he lied about crashing a vehicle and didn’t know where the blood came from,” said Knittel.
