Woman says husband wrapped self in plastic and wrote names on knives

A Cape Girardeau man made his first appearance before a judge Thursday on charges that he allegedly made threats to kill his 21-year-old wife after wrapping himself in plastic bags and displaying knives.

Joshua David Wright, 23, was charged Wednesday with felony unlawful use of a weapon and third-degree domestic assault, a misdemeanor.

Associate Circuit Court Judge Gary A. Kamp set Wright's preliminary hearing for April 1.

The victim told police officers she arrived at her residence at 820 S. Pacific St. on Tuesday to find her husband sitting on the couch, wrapped in trash bags from his neck to his feet. She asked Wright what he was doing.

"I'm not going to get blood on me ... when I kill you," he replied, according a probable-cause statement filed by officer CJ Dunavan.

The couple had an argument earlier Tuesday after Wright saw his wife having lunch with an ex-boyfriend, according to the statement. Wright became upset and started hitting and yelling at the victim in her car. She told him to go home and calm down, the victim told officers.

The victim said the weapons Wright placed on the coffee table included a knife with her name written on the blade and a second knife with her ex-boyfriend's name written on the blade. A broken wooden stick, around 26 inches long, had both their names written on it in black marker.

Officers found the weapons in a floor vent by the door of the bathroom, and near the legs of the coffee table, investigators found a small portion of the pink plastic wrap the victim said Wright had wrapped around each leg.

In his first statement to investigators, Wright admitted he and his wife had a disagreement but that he never wrapped himself in plastic, threatened to kill his wife or displayed any weapons.

Only a short time later, Dunavan said in the affidavit, Wright revised his statement.

After a disagreement at the cafe, Wright said, he walked to their residence on Pacific Street where he wrote on two knives and the broken wooden handle. Wright told Dunavan he had no intentions to harm his wife and only planned to place them in drawers for her to find at a later date. When police arrived, Wright said he placed the weapons in the air duct. Wright again denied that he wrapped himself in plastic and threatened to kill the victim.

Wright has no prior convictions in Missouri and is being held at the Cape Girardeau County Jail on a $7,500 bond.

ehevern@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

820 S. Pacific St., Cape Girardeau, MO