Posted: Monday, July 22, 2013
When Lower Makefield police responded to a domestic disturbance earlier last month, they found a crying woman with red marks around her neck and upper chest.
During an argument with her boyfriend, the woman was strangled so hard that she vomited, she told police.
“I thought I was gonna die,” she said, according to court documents filed in connection with the June 16 incident.
Another Lower Makefield woman accused her boyfriend of strangling her to the point she nearly lost consciousness after she tried to end their relationship in May. A month earlier, a Bristol Township woman told police that her boyfriend strangled her during an assault and she “possibly” blacked out, according to police reports.
These stories are being heard more often by domestic abuse workers, police and prosecutors. Since January, at least nine Lower Bucks area residents told police that they were strangled during a domestic incident. All but two were women.
Non-lethal strangulation has become more common in domestic abuse cases in the United States over the last decade, but its seriousness has been historically minimized by the legal, law enforcement and medical communities since most victims survive, experts say.
But strangulation is ranked as more dangerous than other forms of physical abuse, and studies suggest that strangulation is often a predictor for homicide. Repeated strangulation can lead to other serious health problems, abuse experts say.
A 2008 study in the Journal of Emergency Medicine suggested that the risks of an attempted homicide increase about sevenfold for women who have been strangled by their partner. The study also found that 43 percent of women murdered in domestic assaults, and 45 percent of victims of attempted murder, had been strangled by a partner in the previous year.
“If someone was stabbed and survived, we’d say that was a very close call. If someone says she was strangled and survived we don’t say, you were lucky,” said Gael Strack, CEO of the National Family Justice Center in San Diego, Calif.
LIFE IN YOUR HANDS
At least five women were fatally strangled by intimate partners or spouses between 2007 and last year in Bucks and Montgomery counties, according to the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
While most domestic violence murder victims are shot or stabbed, strangulation has moved up to the third-most frequent cause of death in Pennsylvania, reflecting about 10 percent of the 110 domestic-related murder victims last year.
Last year, nine people were fatally strangled in the state, and strangulation was listed as a contributing cause in two other deaths, according to the coalition’s annual report. Four of the 76 domestic violence-related victims were killed by strangulation in 2000.
Strangulation was the focus at a coalition education conference last year, legal director Ellen Kramer said. In recent years, the group has worked on raising awareness among law enforcement and legal communities about its dangers, Kramer said.
Last year, the coalition worked with the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association to develop an officer training program on strangulation.
Some local domestic abuse experts and law enforcement members say they are seeing strangulation more frequently in domestic incidents.
“This year specifically I have recognized within reports references to abusers’ ‘hands around neck,’ ” said Lower Makefield police Sgt. Gail Jones, who follows domestic abuse cases in the township.
Bucks County’s domestic violence prevention program, A Woman’s Place, doesn’t keep statistics on the types of abuse reported, but it has noted a “definite” increase in clients who report being strangled, said Linda Thomas, the agency’s director of institutional advocacy.
Many women have told Thomas that they saw stars or light before blacking out. She added that many people think once the strangulation stops and they can breathe again, they are not injured.
As little as 10 seconds of pressure on the carotid arteries in the neck is enough to deprive the brain of oxygen and cause someone to lose consciousness. If the pressure continues, brain death can occur in as quickly as five minutes, said the National Family Justice Center’s Strack.
But even if the pressure is released — and consciousness regained — the person may experience serious, potentially fatal, injuries. Swollen vocal cords can block breathing and lead to death hours or days later.
Repeated incidents of strangulation can cause permanent artery and blood vessel damage that can result in an increased risk of early stroke. Blocking the jugular veins prevents de-oxygenated blood from exiting the brain, increasing the risk of brain damage, which can be cumulative.
“No one understands that,” she added.
SERIOUS CRIME
When Lois Fasnacht worked as a domestic abuse advocate, she recalled often hearing victims describe abusers as grabbing them around the throat and shoving them against the wall.
“That is a form of strangulation but you don’t think of it that way,” said Fasnacht, who is now a domestic abuse training specialist for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. “A lot of other people think strangled means death. A lot of people say when you’re strangled, you’re dead.”
Among the challenges with prosecuting non-lethal strangulation has been that, unlike a black eye or broken nose, the injuries may not be obvious, Strack and others said. A 1995 study found that in half of the strangling cases, people have no immediate signs of external injury, and 35 percent of the time the injuries are too minor for police to photograph.
Strangulation presents with more subtle immediate signs, such as redness or scratches around the neck or chest, bloodshot eyes, dizziness, vomiting or loss of consciousness. Hours or days later, bruises also can form around the neck.
Without signs of external injury, proving felony assault is difficult for prosecutors. Proving attempted murder is also tough since prosecutors have to prove the defendant intended to kill — not scare or control — the victim, experts say.
But police can build a strong case if they know to ask the right questions, such as did the abuser say anything during the strangulation, and the injury signs to look for in suspected victims, Fascnacht said.
“Law enforcement and prosecutors are starting to realize that it is a very deadly action, very lethal — I have your life in my hands,” Fasnacht said. “Just because you see the word choking, doesn’t mean this isn’t dangerous.”
The National Family Justice Center Alliance received a $400,000 U.S. Justice Department grant to fund a strangulation training institute, and Strack has traveled the country helping lawmakers draft bills and leading seminars for police.
As domestic violence programs have focused more efforts on education and training involving strangulation, police officers are doing a better job at identifying it and charging appropriately, Strack said.
As many as 30 states in the last five years have, under certain conditions, made it a felony to intentionally impede someone’s breathing, following cases involving domestic-related murders in which, before being killed, the victim reported nonlethal strangulation incidents.
But Pennsylvania is among the roughly 20 states where nonlethal strangulation is not defined as a crime. It is generally considered an assault that could be graded as a misdemeanor or felony. The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence has pushed for an amendment to the state’s assault statue to break out strangulation as a separate offense, but the bill has not found a sponsor.
Among the nine recent alleged non-lethal strangulation cases in the Lower Bucks area, most suspects were charged with simple assault, and in some instances, recklessly endangering another person.
Three cases included a felony charge of aggravated assault, but earlier this month a district judge dismissed the charge against the boyfriend of the Lower Makefield woman who said she was strangled to the point of vomiting. The man was held for trial on all other charges including simple assault.
Elsewhere, though, over the last five years, prosecutors have increasingly treated domestic cases involving accusations of strangulation more seriously, said Scott Burns, executive director of the National District Attorneys Association in Virginia. When strangulation is involved, it often results in more serious charges against defendants than in the past, he added.
“When I was a DA 10 years ago if we had a boyfriend strangle a girlfriend, he would have been charged with domestic violence. Today I may charge him with aggravated assault or attempt to cause death or serious bodily injury,” Burns said. “I just think it is education and a new heightened concern for that criminal act. It’s like DUI 40 years ago.”
Jo Ciavaglia: 215-949-4181; email: jciavaglia@phillyBurbs.com; Twitter: @jociavaglia
- Did You Know?
- Strangulation and choking are different actions
Choking internally blocks off someone's windpipe with a foreign object, like a piece of food
Strangulation is done externally, such as with hands or object around a victim's throat
- A 2001 study of 62 abused women who entered domestic violence programs found most reported they had been strangled by their partner. On average, each woman reported she was strangled five times during the relationship, according to the Journal of Emergency Medicine.
- Some recent non-fatal and fatal strangulation incidents in Bucks & Montgomery counties
- Patrick McCloskey, 44, of Lower Southampton is facing charges of simple assault and recklessly endangering another person after he allegedly strangled his girlfriend on July 3.
Lower Southampton police say the couple were arguing when, the woman claims, McCloskey got "really upset" and began to push her and then put his hands around her neck and struggled with her for a minute, according to police. The woman had visible abrasions around both sides of her neck, police said. McCloskey denied putting his hands around the woman's neck and claims she had a condition that turns her skin red.
- Danielle Curry, 26, of Bensalem is facing simple assault and harassment charges after she allegedly scratched and strangled her boyfriend on July 1.
Police say the couple's verbal argument escalated into a physical altercation. Police observed several scratches on the man's neck. Curry told police she scratched the man's neck while trying to get him out of the house, according to court documents.
- James McCoy, 27, of Bristol, was arraigned July 8 on charges that included simple assault for alleged incidents that occurred last year and again in June. Both times, he allegedly both strangled his girlfriend during an argument.
In the most recent incident, on June 27, McCoy’s girlfriend claimed that during an argument, McCoy again pulled her hair and twice strangled her, once "using his forearms on her neck so she couldn’t breathe,” police said.
Police said they saw several fresh injuries on the woman including scratch marks in her neck area. She also had red marks on her neck and shoulder area, they said.
- Michael Haddad, 42, of Burlington, N.J., is facing assault charges after allegedly assaulting — and strangling — his girlfriend in her Lower Makefield home June 16.
When police responded to a domestic disturbance report at a home on Sutphin Pines Road, they said they found a woman with visible red marks around her neck and upper chest.
The woman told police she was arguing with her boyfriend, when he allegedly kicked her off the couch then started to choke her with his hands to the point where she vomited, according to a probable-cause affidavit.
At a preliminary hearing last week, a district judge held all charges for trial against Haddad, but dismissed two charges of aggravated assault
- William Wolk, 45, of Lower Makefield faces assault charges after allegedly attacking his girlfriend May 18 when she told him that she wanted to end their relationship.
The woman claims that Wolk threw her on a couch, straddled and pinned her down and started strangling her as she kicked and screamed, according to the affidavit. The woman claimed she nearly lost consciousness.
- Christopher Colon, 33, of Bristol Township is accused of strangling a woman on May 6 during an attack.
Bristol Township police say after the attack the woman had bruises on her throat and back of her neck consistent with someone putting their hands around her throat. The woman also accused Colon of shoving her into a floor length mirror that broke, leaving cuts on her side and back and kicking her in her groin area.
- Tameka Williams, 37, formerly of Philadelphia allegedly hit and strangled her 32-year-old boyfriend on April 19 during an argument at a hotel.
Police said the man had neck bruising and other injuries when he was hospitalized after Williams allegedly stabbed him twice during an argument over a Facebook post. She is awaiting trial on aggravated and simple assault and related offenses.
- Joseph Beynon III, 24, of Bensalem is charged with punching and strangling his girlfriend April 6 in Bristol Township.
The woman said Beynon had punched her in the face and body, then grabbed her by her throat and strangled her to the point where she “possibly” lost consciousness. A probable cause affidavit described the woman as having red marks on her throat.
- David Lindenbaum, 26, of Bensalem was charged with assault and related offenses after he allegedly assaulted and strangled his girlfriend on Jan. 4 after she picked him up at a Philadelphia hospital.
As the woman tried to drive, Lindenbaum allegedly attempted to pull her hands off the steering wheel. He also allegedly hit and punched her and grabbed around her neck and started strangling her.
- Timothy Zalut, 34, of Warminster was found guilty last year of simple assault, false imprisonment, terroristic threats and disorderly conduct stemming for attacking and strangling his 22-year-old ex-wife in 2012.
Haley Dykstra, testified that during an argument Zalut grabbed her by the neck. He choked and threatened to kill her, she said. Dykstra had nine prior domestic assault convictions and seven past incarcerations involving Zalut, according to the judge who presided over his trial.
- Boris Guzman, 41, of Bristol Township pleaded guilty to attempted murder and related crimes after strangling his wife in September 2011. The incident was recorded on a 911 phone call made by the man’s 11-year-old son.
Guzman locked Ofelia Guzman, 31, inside a bedroom with him. He pulled her hair, punched her and then strangled her with his hands and a cloth belt over her head and pulled it tight.
- Thuy “Tony” Vo, of Philadelphia was convicted in November 2010 of strangling his girlfriend, An-Hnan Thi Huynh, 30. Huynh, who was known as “Annie” to her friends but used the name “Kim” at her Upper Southampton business, Kim’s Nails, was found dead inside the Second Street Pike shop in the early morning hours.
Police described Vo as “closely involved with the victim's business as well as her personal life” and who had been in “serious arguments” with her in the days before her death; he also withdrew thousands of dollars from the dead woman’s bank account the day before she died.
- What to look for with strangulation
Face: red or flushed, pinpoint red spots, scratch marks
Eyes/eyelids: *petichiae to the eyeball, blood shot eyes
Nose: bloody or broken nose
Finger tips: bruises are circular, oval and often faint
Ears: petichiae along outer ear or ear canal, bleeding from ear canal
Mouth: bruising, swollen tongue, tips, cuts/abrasions
Under the chin: redness, scratch marks, bruising
Chest: redness, scratch marks, bruises abrasions
Shoulders: redness, scratch marks , bruises
Neck: redness, scratches, finger nail impressions, bruises, swelling ligature marks
Head: petichiae on the scalp
*Petichiae is a small red or purple spot on the body, caused by a minor hemorrhage from broken blood vessels
Symptoms of Strangulation
Voice changes: raspy, hoarse voice, coughing, unable to speak
Swallowing changes: trouble or pain when swallowing, neck pain, drooling, nausea/vomiting
Breathing changes: difficulty breathing, hyperventilating
Behavior changes: restlessness, difficulty concentrating, amnesia, hallucinations, bowel or bladder incontinence, loss of consciousness, dizziness/headache
Source: Gael Strack, Family Justice Center Alliance
