Hatchet job leads to suspended sentence
Jesse Davis | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 11 years, 7 months AGO
A Lakeside woman was given a six-month suspended sentence after hacking through a bedroom door with a hatchet trying to get to her husband.
Marhya Barnhart, 35, pleaded guilty April 17 in Flathead District Court to an amended charge of misdemeanor assault. She initially was charged with felony assault.
Barnhart and her husband got into an argument on Dec. 22, 2013, and she decided to try to leave their home. Fearing she was too drunk to drive, her husband, Michael, took her keys and locked himself in the bedroom.
Marhya picked up an 18-inch hatchet and struck the door three times, chopping a hole in it while he held it shut. He eventually got the hatchet away from her.
Marhya, her husband and a friend who witnessed the incident had been out drinking prior to the incident.
In addition to handing down the suspended sentence, District Judge Ted Lympus ordered Barnhart to pay $175 in fines and complete 40 hours of anger management classes within four months.
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