Posted 2:39 am Thursday, April 12, 2012
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Van Zandt County Man Charged With Assaulting Wife
By TIM MONZINGO
Staff Writer
A Van Zandt County man was free on bail Wednesday after allegedly beating his wife severely and threatening to kill her.
Josh Holden was released from the Van Zandt County Jail after posting a $100,000 bond, which had been reduced from $750,000 on a first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, family violence, according to officials.
Holden was arrested by Van Zandt County Sheriff's deputies about 4 a.m. Monday after testimony from his wife that he had beaten her severely the last week in March, sheriff's investigator Kristie Holt said Wednesday.
Investigator Holt said deputies received a call from the Van Police Department after someone found the wife and two small children on the side of the road along County Road 4512.
“The good Samaritan could tell that she'd obviously been assaulted,” Investigator Holt said.
The wife was taken to an area hospital to be treated for her wounds, where Ms. Holt and another investigator from the office interviewed her, Ms. Holt said.
Staff Writer
A Van Zandt County man was free on bail Wednesday after allegedly beating his wife severely and threatening to kill her.
Josh Holden was released from the Van Zandt County Jail after posting a $100,000 bond, which had been reduced from $750,000 on a first-degree felony charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, family violence, according to officials.
Holden was arrested by Van Zandt County Sheriff's deputies about 4 a.m. Monday after testimony from his wife that he had beaten her severely the last week in March, sheriff's investigator Kristie Holt said Wednesday.
Investigator Holt said deputies received a call from the Van Police Department after someone found the wife and two small children on the side of the road along County Road 4512.
“The good Samaritan could tell that she'd obviously been assaulted,” Investigator Holt said.
The wife was taken to an area hospital to be treated for her wounds, where Ms. Holt and another investigator from the office interviewed her, Ms. Holt said.
“Her head had been shaved and it looked like she had been scalped,” Investigator Holt said. “She had wounds all over her body, from bruises to open wounds pretty much on her arms and legs.”
The wife told authorities that March 22, her husband was angry with her because she was not getting their children ready for school fast enough, Investigator Holt said. He beat her with a piece of stiff electrical wiring and a baseball bat before getting ready to take their 7-year-old daughter to school.
Ms. Holt said the wife told investigators when the truck wouldn't start, Holden brought jumper cables into the house and continued to hit the wife with them.
“He had told her that that was just a taste of what she was going to get, and when he returned, he was going to kill her,” Investigator Holt said. “When he left, being in fear for her life, she took the two small children, went into a wooded area near her home and hid, pretty much for two days.”
The wife told authorities that March 22, her husband was angry with her because she was not getting their children ready for school fast enough, Investigator Holt said. He beat her with a piece of stiff electrical wiring and a baseball bat before getting ready to take their 7-year-old daughter to school.
Ms. Holt said the wife told investigators when the truck wouldn't start, Holden brought jumper cables into the house and continued to hit the wife with them.
“He had told her that that was just a taste of what she was going to get, and when he returned, he was going to kill her,” Investigator Holt said. “When he left, being in fear for her life, she took the two small children, went into a wooded area near her home and hid, pretty much for two days.”
The wife remained in the woods, attempting to flag down passing cars before the Good Samaritan stopped and took her to the Van Police Department, Investigator Holt said.
The wife related at least two other accounts of violence done to her by her husband, including being stabbed in the leg and shot with a pellet gun, Investigator Holt said.
“She had metal (pellets) in her legs where she said he'd shot her with a pellet gun, and they were still in her legs and those became open sores,” the investigator said. “That was at a different time, but those (pellets) were still in her legs.”
Authorities secured a search warrant for Holden's arrest and to search the home, signed by Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Scott Shinn.
“When we went to execute the warrant, we noticed video cameras in the residence and we're suspecting that's how he monitored the movement,” Investigator Holt said. “He had an application on his iPhone that he could see inside the house.”
Investigator Holt said authorities are pursuing other charges against Holden, and the case was being reviewed by a grand jury Wednesday afternoon. The Holden's children are in the custody of a foster family, Holt said, and the wife was still being treated for her injuries at a local hospital.
The wife related at least two other accounts of violence done to her by her husband, including being stabbed in the leg and shot with a pellet gun, Investigator Holt said.
“She had metal (pellets) in her legs where she said he'd shot her with a pellet gun, and they were still in her legs and those became open sores,” the investigator said. “That was at a different time, but those (pellets) were still in her legs.”
Authorities secured a search warrant for Holden's arrest and to search the home, signed by Precinct 4 Justice of the Peace Scott Shinn.
“When we went to execute the warrant, we noticed video cameras in the residence and we're suspecting that's how he monitored the movement,” Investigator Holt said. “He had an application on his iPhone that he could see inside the house.”
Investigator Holt said authorities are pursuing other charges against Holden, and the case was being reviewed by a grand jury Wednesday afternoon. The Holden's children are in the custody of a foster family, Holt said, and the wife was still being treated for her injuries at a local hospital.
