A mental health evaluator for Wyoming doesn’t support a Gillette man’s claim that when he allegedly tried to kill his wife by stabbing her eight times, he was not sane enough to rationalize his actions.
John Stetson Angus Bosh, 31, withdrew his “not guilty by reason of mental illness” plea Friday.
He’s accused of stabbing his wife in the arms, chest and cheek after a drunken argument at his grandmother’s house in the early morning hours of Oct. 4.
“I’ll always love you,” Bosh told his wife before fleeing the scene, according to the case affidavit.
Authorities took custody of Bosh about two days later.
“Defendant has had an evaluation by the (Wyoming) State Hospital that is not in support of an NGMI defense” wrote Bosh’s attorney, Campbell County Public Defender Field Office Supervisor Dallas Lamb, in a Friday motion to withdraw the insanity plea.
The contents of the state hospital’s evaluation, filed Jan. 30, are not publicly available.
Lamb urged Campbell County District Court Judge Stuart Healy III to let Bosh withdraw the plea, saying it would be “in the best interest of justice.”
Healy granted Bosh’s request that same day.
But at his Oct. 24 arraignment, Bosh had also pleaded not guilty.
In Wyoming, a person can give both of those pleas simultaneously.
Bosh’s case now may proceed to his June 9 jury trial on the “not guilty” plea.
He faces one count of attempted second-degree murder, which is punishable by between 20 years and life in prison, and another of aggravated assault, which is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
‘You Stabbed Me’
The case affidavit alleges that Bosh stabbed his wife China Bosh in the chest, arms and cheek on Oct. 4, after drinking heavily at his grandmother’s house and arguing with his wife.
When Bosh’s grandmother left the room, Bosh went into the kitchen and retrieved a knife, the document says.
The affidavit says Bosh’s wife tried to leave, but he pushed her back onto the couch, where she curled up in a fetal position.
That was when she felt a hit to the chest, China Bosh told Cowboy State Daily in October.
“I didn’t really feel any (stabbing sensation) at first — more of a shock after it got done,” China said at the time. “All I could say was, ‘You stabbed me.’”
She didn’t even realize she’d been stabbed until she looked down at her shirt and noticed blood soaking through it. He kept stabbing downward at her in an overhand motion, the affidavit says.
The document says Bosh stopped stabbed her and asked if she was going to listen to him. Afraid of being stabbed again, she said yes.
He gave her a kiss and told her he was going to crash his motorcycle and kill himself, the affidavit adds.
“I’ll always love you,” he said, according to the document. “I’m sorry I stabbed you.”
Then he left the house.
It wasn’t until the adrenaline started to wear off that the pain set in, China Bosh said in October.
Later at the hospital, she told an investigator the pain was a “20” on a 1-10 scale.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
