Man sentenced at least 2 years for domestic violence

May 22--A 37-year-old Moscow man who pleaded guilty in March to two felony charges of domestic battery and attempted strangulation will spend the next two to 10 years in state prison.

Latah County Second District Court Judge John Stegner handed down the sentence Monday.

As part of a plea agreement, Theodore Baumgardner pleaded guilty to the two charges in exchange for the prosecution dropping additional charges of domestic battery and kidnapping.

According to court documents, Baumgardner was arrested on the evening of Feb. 23 after a neighbor reported hearing a woman screaming for about 30 minutes.

Moscow Police Officer Keith Davis and Sgt. John Lawrence reported they knocked on the front door of a residence near the 1300 block of Edinborough Court in Moscow. On the second knock, both officers reported hearing an adult woman screaming from inside, and they forcefully entered the residence.

Officers reported they found a nude man, later identified as Baumgardner, holding a woman down by her neck on a bed in a locked upstairs bedroom.

The woman was later identified as Baumgardner's live-in girlfriend.

After the parties were separated, the woman told officers Baumgardner had struck her with closed fists after they argued over a text message she had received.

The woman said she attempted to flee from the residence twice, but both times Baumgardner dragged her back into the home by her hair. She reported he broke her phone when she attempted to call for help.

Davis reported Baumgardner's 8- and 9-year-old sons emerged from a second upstairs bedroom while he was taking statements. Police said the boys claimed they had witnessed the adults fighting in the living room and their father accused the woman of cheating.

The woman was treated at Gritman Medical Center, where doctors identified she suffered an injury to her rotator cuff, a biceps strain and bruises to her hands, neck and face.

Responding officers reported Baumgardner was intoxicated at the time of the incident. Baumgardner admitted to Stegner in March he is an alcoholic.

Latah County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Keith Scholl, who recommended two fixed years in prison and eight years indeterminate, read a statement from the victim in the case -- Baumgardner's girlfriend at the time.

The victim said in the statement that Baumgardner "tried to kill me" and "I thought this was my last night alive."

In the statement, the victim said her shoulder still does not work correctly and that she still has medical issues with her leg, which was broken by Baumgardner in a separate incident about two years ago.

Baumgardner's attorney, Latah County Public Defender Deborah McCormick, asked that Stegner place her client on probation or retained jurisdiction.

McCormick said both parties consumed alcohol the night of the incident and while Baumgardner does not remember everything that took place as a result of his intoxication, she said he has no reason to dispute her claims and he has never tried to minimize his actions.

Baumgardner, who sat next to McCormick in an orange Latah County Jail jumpsuit, intended to make a statement Monday, but his tears prevented him from speaking.

McCormick said Baumgardner had written prepared comments, which essentially said how sorry he was, that he did not want to put the victim through this anymore and that he wants to change.

Scholl told the Daily News Baumgardner will be credited for the roughly two months he has already served in jail. He will be eligible for parole in two years.

Garrett Cabeza can be reached at (208) 883-4631, or by email to gcabeza@dnews.com.

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