Husband arrested in near hanging

A Spokane man is accused of luring his wife into their garage to see a haunted house and then hanging her.

Spokane police arrested 38-year-old Sean Allen Jennings late Tuesday night after the woman, who escaped death, reported the incident.

The hanging reportedly happened Sunday night when Jennings asked his wife to come into the garage to see a surprise haunted house he had built for their two children.

According to Spokane police, Jennings persuaded his wife to put on a blindfold and then directed her up some steps on a ladder, handcuffed her and put a rope around her neck.

The couple was living together while going through a divorce. According to official records published in The Spokesman-Review, the couple had been married since January 2006.

The woman told police that she became scared and asked Jennings to release her, but he pushed her. She said she balanced on a toe to keep from hanging. The victim said that as she begged for help, her husband told her that hanging her was better than getting a divorce.

Tired, she slipped and began hanging from the rope, she said, but her husband pulled her up just as she lost consciousness.

Jennings then told his wife to put aloe vera on the rope burn around her neck and cover it with a neck brace to hide it, according to a police press release.

After two days, she called police about 11 p.m. Tuesday from the Wal-Mart at 2301 W. Wellesley Ave. Police could see the rope burn on her neck and bruises on her wrists.

Officers arrested Jennings that night, charging him with domestic violence attempted first-degree murder. He denied trying to hang his wife.

Officers found handcuffs, rope, a ladder and the bandanna used as a blindfold in the garage, the press release said.