BEDFORD – A Heltonville man is facing charges of domestic battery with a deadly weapon, strangulation, and criminal confinement after Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a report of a domestic fight on Tuesday, April 25.
Police arrested 31-year-old Matthew McHale.
When officers arrived at 1:58 a.m. at 4 Walnut Heights Road. They found a woman with a cut on her hand.
She told police McHale had put her in a shower and attacked her with a knife. She told police the incident happened at 78 Walnut Heights Road. She was transported to IU Health for treatment.
Deputies went to the home at 78 Walnut Heights Road and knocked on the door. Blood on a screen door on the west side of the home was discovered. A deputy found an open window and unlocked the door for his fellow officers. Officers entered the home in an attempt to locate McHale.
Officers located McHale lying under a futon couch and he was detained.
Police found a cell phone and a black folding knife with a thumb ring in his pockets. The knife had a curved blade and a spike on the end of it.
Blood splatter and blood smears were found on the tub, shower curtain, wall, and on a blue jersey. Police also found a pile of brown hair that matched the victims.
A glass smoking device was found on a table in front of the couch.
The female victim told police she was visiting a male at 4 Walnut Heights Road when she heard her puppy whining at her home. When she went home she found McHale at the door. Both went inside to a bedroom and while talking to McHale he got angry. His temper escalated and he began to hit her on the head and body. He then grabbed his knife. McHale pulled her shirt off and placed his hands over her mouth, making it hard to breathe. During the altercation, he stabbed her in the hand. She ran into the bathroom where McHale pushed her into the tub and tried to wrap the shower curtain around her. She was able to get out of the tub but he grabbed her by the hair, pulling some out of her head. She was able to get to the door on the west side of the house and fled to her friend’s house and called 911.
