Police: Man Beats Wife, Stabs Self Repeatedly With Four Children In Home

A Richelieu Street resident severely beat his wife early Wednesday morning then stabbed himself repeatedly before police kicked open a barricaded bedroom door and captured him, police said.

Officers were dispatched to 10 Richelieu St. at 1:46 a.m. following multiple 911 calls from neighbors reporting a woman was outside screaming for help. The officers said they found her on the front lawn with a severe head laceration, bruises to her face and head, and a "disfigured left arm."

They said the woman was too distraught to talk with them, but her daughter said her stepfather, who was in the house with three children, had beaten her. She said he locked himself in an upstairs room.

Additional officers were called to the location, including one with a dog.

Officers reported they could hear the man, later identified as Jonathan Leroy Baxter, moving around inside a bedroom. They said they went upstairs and called out to Baxter, who had placed furniture against the door.

The officers reported there was blood throughout the house and up the stairs.

They negotiated with Baxter for about a half hour. A dispatcher then radioed them that his former wife had called 911 to say she had spoken with Baxter by phone, and he was stabbing himself and had taken prescription drugs in order to commit suicide. The officers kicked in the door and encountered Baxter, who was combative. They shot him with a Taser stun gun to subdue him and then restrained him.

They said he had several stab wounds to the left side of his chest and was bleeding profusely from slash wounds to both wrists.

Both him and his wife were taken to Norwalk Hospital. Later Wednesday morning, police said his wife was released after her wounds were closed with 50 stitches.

Police said his wounds were so severe he would probably remain in the hospital for several days.

None of the children were injured. The 15-year-old daughter who met police outside said sometime hours earlier Baxter's wife told him their marriage was over and she was going to divorce him. She said Baxter left the house, and later returned intoxicated.

Det. Sgt. Marc Lepore said it appeared Baxter's 39-year-old wife was asleep when he returned home, and he began beating her while she lay in bed. Lepore said they located a broken pool stick covered in blood in the bedroom. He said Baxter may also have beaten her with an iron. Also found in the bedroom was a knife and a note he had written, Lepore said.

There were two girls in the house, ages 6 and 13, and a 10-year-old boy. Police said each was in a separate bedroom during the incident.

Baxter was initially charged with attempted murder, but the charges were later revised to first-degree assault, first-degree unlawful restraint, three counts of risk of injury to a minor, and interferring with an officer. Police set his bond at $500,000.

Late Wednesday morning, detectives obtained a search warrant to conduct a detailed examination of the crime scene.