WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY | Soldier charged with murder for trying to electrocute his wife

Soldier charged with murder for trying to electrocute his wife

(CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.) -- A Fort Campbell, Ky., soldier is charged with murder after police said he tried to electrocute his wife with bare wires when she got out of the shower.

Spc. Matthew Joseph Cox, 21, tried to kill his wife Sunday after she told him she wanted a divorce, according to a warrant by Clarksville police Detective Raymond Davis.

Cox threatened to kill her and himself.

"When Mrs. Cox got into the shower, he opened the curtain and showed her a glass of Coke and some pills he took," Davis wrote. "Once she got out of the shower, Mr. Cox had stripped the ends off an electrical cord and plugged it into the socket.

"Mr. Cox attempted to place the bare wires onto his wife's skin in an attempt to shock or electrocute her."

Cox, a soldier with the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, was charged with attempted first-degree murder and attempted criminal homicide.

He was booked into jail, where he is being held on $500,000 bond.

Cox was previously charged Sept. 15 with domestic assault; that case was settled on a pretrial diversion.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)