Hammer attack suspect ordered held in jail

A Spokane man charged with smacking another man in the back of the head with a claw hammer was ordered held Wednesday in the Spokane County Jail on a bond of $500,000.

Brian Lee Benefiel, 25, is charged with attempted first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in connection with an attack on Aug. 9 that seriously injured 39-year-old Michael S. Wilson.

Court documents don’t give a possible motive, but list at least two witnesses who saw Benefiel pick up a claw hammer from the kitchen table in Wilson’s apartment in the 500 block of West Sinto Avenue and hit him in the back of the head.

“Witnesses Jason Tyree and Richard Armstrong will testify that Benefiel struck Wilson over the head with the hammer and then left the apartment carrying the hammer,” court records state. “Richard Armstrong will testify that he believed that Benefiel was trying to kill Wilson with the hammer.”

Officers quickly arrived and found Wilson bleeding profusely from the open wound on his head.

“Wilson was semi-coherent and appeared to be going in and out of consciousness,” the report states.

According to press releases, Benefiel was arrested Monday after a man checking on the welfare of his father-in-law found an unknown man matching Benefiel’s description in the bathroom taking a shower inside the home in the 1500 block of West Fairview Avenue.

Once confronted, the showering man fled on foot wearing only jeans. Several officers converged on the scene, and Officer Tamie Johnson spotted the suspect at the intersection of Adams Street and Fairview Avenue.

The man refused orders to stop. About two minutes later, Officer Charles Pavlischak ran down the suspect, who was identified as Benefiel.

Benefiel told Superior Court Judge Michael Price that he has worked recently as a telemarketer and has done some concrete work. “But I haven’t been working the last few months,” he said. “I’ve been in and out of jail.”

Price noted that Benefiel has felony convictions for second-degree assault, riot and harassment. He also has three misdemeanor convictions, seven failures to appear and 17 felony warrants.

Spokane County Deputy Prosecutor Jared Cordts requested a $500,000 bond and Price complied. Price set Benefiel’s arraignment for 4 p.m. Aug. 29.

Wilson had been listed in critical condition at Deaconess Medical Center after the attack, but he is no longer listed as a patient, according to a hospital spokeswoman.