A 51-year-old Kalispell man was sentenced Thursday in Flathead District Court to five years in prison and 20 years of probation after pleading guilty to stabbing a woman in the neck.

On June 3, 2012, David Carr broke into his ex-girlfriend Sherri Cochran’s apartment, pinned her to the bed, told her he was going to kill her and commit suicide, then stabbed her in the neck. Cochran initially fought Carr off, but he held her at knifepoint for more than an hour before she convinced him to let her leave.

Cochran, who also suffered defensive cuts on her hands, testified to the havoc Carr’s actions wreaked on her life.

“You literally turned my life upside-down,” Cochran said. “I have a lot of fear now, in the darkness, in the light, inside and outside. It’s destroyed me is what it’s done.”

Cochran told the court and reminded Carr that she had begged him repeatedly to get counseling for mental issues she believes led to the attack.

“You came so close to killing me that night,” she said.

Among the symptoms of Carr’s supposed mental health issues were blackouts during which Carr could not account for his actions, according to District Judge David Ortley.

Carr had previously pleaded guilty by way of Alford to felony tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, a conviction shared with his sister, Lynn Harmon.

Harmon gave him a place to get cleaned up before taking his bloody clothes and throwing them in a dumpster as well as cleaning the knife with alcohol and swabs and burying it in Evergreen. She eventually turned the knife over to detectives.

Harmon’s sentencing is set for Feb. 14.

Ortley chose Thursday to depart from a plea agreement Carr had reached through his attorney with prosecutors, which recommended a five-year sentence to the Montana State Prison for the assault charge and a consecutive 10-year suspended sentence for the tampering conviction.

Instead, Ortley sentenced Carr to the prison for five years and give him 10 further years, suspended, for the assault conviction, with a consecutive 10-year suspended sentence for the tampering conviction.

In addition, Ortley set a parole restriction on Carr for the duration of his five years in prison. If Carr is to be considered for parole, he must first complete mental health and chemical dependency evaluations and begin any recommended treatment.

The provider or providers of that treatment may then make the decision about when Carr is prepared enough for the outside world to be eligible for parole.

Carr was also ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and a $400 public defender fee.