Attacker carves bloody words in woman’s chest

A 54-year-old man is in custody at Whitman County Jail after sheriff’s deputies received a report Tuesday the man allegedly carved the words “do not resuscitate” into his 46-year-old girlfriend’s chest in Albion. Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers said the woman notified his office Tuesday afternoon from a friend’s house that she had been assaulted days earlier, according to a report from the Moscow-Pullman Daily News. The boyfriend was identified as Nathaniel B. Simon II. The sheriff’s office reported that he was ordered held on $500,000 bond following an appearance in Whitman County Superior Court on Wednesday. When deputies responded, the woman had multiple shallow cuts on her chest and had lost a “fair amount” of blood, but didn’t need medical attention. She was identified as Debra A. Lowry. Deputies staked out the couple’s Albion home Tuesday and arrested the man without incident when he left the residence. The man was arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, unlawful imprisonment and threatening to kill. “This is a serious case, and these are very serious allegations,” Myers said. The woman told police she was choked Friday to the point of blacking out. Upon waking up, she found her shirt covered in blood and words carved into her chest with a razor-like instrument. Myers said the injuries on her chest were mostly shallow cuts and scratches. The woman alleged she was afraid to tell police about the assaults because her boyfriend threatened to kill her, and then himself, if she told anyone. The sheriff’s office wasn’t alerted to the incident until Tuesday after the woman left their shared residence and told her friend about the assault. Investigators spent Tuesday night and part of Wednesday collecting information from the house and are still compiling information. Myers said there were no witnesses to the alleged assaults. Myers alleged the man has an extensive criminal history in five states, including domestic violence and assault. After his first appearance in Whitman County Superior Court on Wednesday, the man remains in jail in lieu of $500,000 bail. Myers said he was unaware whether the couple has a history of domestic violence other than a verbal domestic assault reported to the sheriff’s office earlier this year. Myers said the suspect and his girlfriend have been dating for the past four months.