Attempted murder suspect bound over for trial; arraignment set for June

While testimony in the Jackson County District Court case against a Holton resident charged with at­tempted first-degree murder, rape and other offenses may face a “lan­guage barrier,” a Holton woman recognized as the victim in the case tearfully made it clear on Thursday that domestic violence knows no such barrier.

Attorneys on both sides of the case against Manuel Juarez-Benito, 30, utilized local interpreters during a Thursday morning preliminary hearing in district court, as neither the accused nor the recognized vic­tim speaks English. Juarez-Benito had been recognized earlier in the case as a native of Guatemala, it was reported.

Following the preliminary hear­ing, District Court Judge Norbert Marek set Juarez-Benito’s arraign­ment for Friday, June 24, at which time Juarez-Benito will enter pleas on the charges against him. He re­mains at the Jackson County De­tention Center on $200,000 bond.

In addition to the aforementioned charges, Juarez-Benito has also been charged with aggravated battery, two counts of criminal threat, aggravated endan­ering a child, obstructing official duty and domestic battery, most of the charges reportedly stemming from a Feb. 8 incident in Holton.

Juarez-Benito was bound over for trial on all the charges by Marek, excepting the obstruction and child endangerment charges. Marek noted that those two charges will likely be dismissed, although the state can refile them.

At Thursday’s hearing, local in­terpreter Gladys Gomez relayed questions from Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller to the 26-year-old woman, who detailed the Feb. 8 incident. While on the wit­ness stand, the woman expressed discomfort with having to answer questions from Miller and defense attorney J. Richard Lake of Holton, while an­other local interpreter, Sherri San­chez, relayed comments to Juarez-Benito.

The woman said the incident arose after one of her three children reportedly became sick, and she asked Juarez-Benito to help her get the child and another child to a hospital or clinic. Juarez-Benito, she said, told her it was unnecce­sary, that she was “crazy” and the children were fine.

Despite her response that she was not “crazy,” he continued to insist that she was, and that, she said, was when he began to punch and kick her, landing blows to her back and neck. She said he then put both hands on her neck and began to choke her, nearly to the point of passing out, but he stopped when she was able to scratch his neck.

Juarez-Benito, she said, then gave the children some medicine while she called 911. Deputy Mark Wohlin of the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office testified that he ar­rived to find the woman “very up­set” and, with the help of a trans­lator, Juarez-Benito giving him “a name that I didn’t believe was his,” as he originally gave his name as Pedro Juarez-Alonzo.

Wohlin said Thursday that upon examining the woman, she had marks on her neck that were “con­sistent with strangulation,” noting that “she almost stopped breathing and had difficulty swallowing” af­ter the incident. Juarez-Benito also admitted to hitting the woman, saying he did so because “she was not moving fast enough to get the kids to a hospital,” Wohlin added.

The woman also testified that Juarez-Benito had raped her several times between April 1 and Sept. 30 of 2015, noting that these incidents occurred after she rejected his re­quests for sex, some of which were made while she pregnant. Wohlin also repeated the woman’s initial testimony that Juarez-Benito had threatened to “go after” the eldest of the children.