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.
Traffic Stop
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.
For Too Long
Rusher said he lives with his girlfriend and a man who was away at work Thursday night, and that he and his girlfriend have been dating for “too long.” Their relationship ended that night after they called each other foul names, Rusher said, according to the document.
All they do is have sex, fight and drink, he added, reportedly.
They started arguing Thursday night over a request she made, and they also argued over music, like Kanye West, Beyonce and Taylor Swift, wrote Knittel.
Rusher mentioned digging tunnels beneath his house to Beyonce’s house, the document adds.
‘Charge Me With Attempted Murder’
Throughout the interview, Rusher denied hurting his girlfriend, offering, “Maybe she fight-clubbed herself,” and, “Maybe I fight-clubbed myself,” says the affidavit.
The document says Rusher admitted to kicking the door off the hinges, which he said he’s done several times.
An agent told Rusher he should be charged with aggravated assault, which is a 10-year felony.
“Should charge me with attempted murder,” said Rusher, according to the affidavit. “Why aren’t you charging me with attempted murder. What’s the f***ing difference?”
A deputy then took Rusher to the Campbell County Detention Center.
At The Hospital
Deputy Tyler Stearns and Knittel spoke with the girlfriend at the hospital. She said they’d been dating for four months, and she moved from Casper to live with him two weeks ago.
They were drinking Thursday night. She was making dinner. Rusher was in their bedroom, and she brought dinner in to him, she said.
“(She) knew of Rusher speaking with other women and potential infidelity issues,” says the document. “(She) texted Rusher asking him about an unknown number he had been communicating with.”
By her account, he became angry, grabbed her phone and broke it, then started throwing things at her.
She ducked into the bedroom; he followed and kicked the door off the hinges, wrote Knittel.
The document says Rusher then threw a chair at her, which hit her. Next he threw a lamp, which smacked her forearms, and then the bedroom door, which also hit her so that she fell to the floor, says the affidavit.
“Rusher stood over (her), retrieved a red handled box cutter knife from his pocket with his left hand,” Knittel wrote. “Rusher stated, ‘I f***ing hate you, I’m going to kill you.’”
Then he slashed her throat on the right side, the document alleges.
She fought back with “all her self-defense” and grabbed Rusher’s Adam’s apple, she explained to the deputies. She even had him in a headlock at one point, but released him because she was afraid she’d pass out, the document adds.
That was when he fled, Knittel wrote.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
