Accused of smashing a bottle of Bailey’s repeatedly against her disabled husband’s head, a Green River woman and former school counselor was charged Thursday with attempted second-degree murder and three counts of abusing a vulnerable adult.
Linda Malone, 65, remained in jail Friday on a $300,000 cash or surety bond, the Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
The investigation started Tuesday when Malone called 911 to say her husband had been hit in the face and had facial abrasions, says an evidentiary affidavit Sweetwater County Attorney Daniel Erramouspe compiled from the investigative notes of Green River Police Department Officers Kevin Lennon and Amy Apostolope.
Lennon and GRPD Sgt. Gary Bach went to a home in town and met with Malone, who pointed toward the living room.
Lennon noticed John Malone, Linda’s husband, lying in a recliner chair, conscious with labored breathing and obvious injuries to his head and face, the document says.
Lennon asked what happened.
Linda Malone said she hit John Malone in the face with a bottle, though it was “uncalled for,” the affidavit says. She tried to clean John up, but determined he needed medical attention and called 911, she added.
She showed Lennon and Bach the bottle she used, a “very large” Bailey’s bottle made of glass, full of fluid and weighing about 6 pounds, says the document.
She’d retrieved it from the lower cupboard in the adjacent kitchen, reportedly.
The affidavit says John Malone had severe swelling on the right side of his head and his face showed dark black and purple bruising.
“Linda A. Malone stated she hit John approximately eight hours prior to officer’s (sic) arrival,” says the affidavit. “(She) stated she knew it wasn’t right to hit him.”
John Malone can’t move on his own except for minor movement of his extremities and he needs constant help, Linda Malone told investigators.
EMTs on scene learned that he has daily medications, the document continues, adding that John told the EMTs his wife had deprived him of his medication for days and that he’d neither eaten nor drank water in days.
He spoke through strained breathing, and officers were “unable to understand him,” says the affidavit.
Both eyes were swollen shut and showed “severe” swelling with bruising, the document adds.
Dried blood that looked several hours old crusted his lips, mouth and chin. He also was missing several teeth, moaning and trying to speak with officers, says the affidavit.
Day Earlier
Linda Malone told investigators that between 2 and 4 p.m. Monday, John was “hollering out” to her that he didn’t have his phone and couldn’t move in his chair, the affidavit says.
She’d been in the dining room area, went to the kitchen, retrieved the bottle, walked to the side of John’s chair and hit him with the bottle, says the document.
“Malone stated she was holding the neck of the bottle with both hand and hit John with a chopping, straight downward motion,” authorities wrote. “(She) stated she was overwhelmed and hit John to make him stop hollering.”
She didn’t want to hurt him, the document relates from her interview, yet he’d yell things periodically and she’d hit him with the bottle because she was frustrated “intermittently.”
She estimated she hit him with the bottle five times in that two hour span, says the affidavit.
It was the same downward motion each time, she reportedly said, but it was “not as hard as he could have been hit.”
An investigator asked her why she waited so long to call 911.
She responded that she was just upset and tried to clean him up, but realized he need to go to the hospital, the document relates from her interview. She wasn’t trying to kill him, she was just trying to make him stop.
About A Week Ago
The affidavit says Linda Malone told investigators that about a week before, she hit John and didn’t know what happened.
She broke the cartilage of his ear, leaving John struggling to hear and sustaining a bruise on his eye, says the document.
“When she hit John a week ago,” the affidavit continues, “she just remembers hitting him and hearing the crunch twice and thinking, ‘Oh my God.’”
She didn’t believe he was “hollering” during that incident, adds the document.
John was life-flighted to the University of Utah Hospital with multiple brain bleeds and skull, jaw, and orbital fractures, concludes the affidavit.
The Tally
Erramouspe charged Linda Malone with one count of attempted second-degree murder and three counts of abusing a vulnerable adult.
She faces between 20 years and life in prison on the attempted murder count, plus up to $10,000 in fines.
Attempted second-degree murder is not a death-penalty crime in Wyoming.
Each abuse count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Local outlet SweetwaterNow reported that Linda Malone is a former Green River High School counselor.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
