LaSalle Man Sentenced to 25 Years Behind Bars
Published on April 19, 2018
LaSalle man sentenced to 25 years behind bars for severely beating now ex-wife with AR-15 rifle
GREELEY, Colo. (Weld County D.A.) – A Weld County man will spend the next two decades behind bars after pleading guilty to severely beating his now ex-wife in their LaSalle home last year while their young children were present.
On March 17, 2017, officers were called to a home for reports of a possible domestic violence situation. When police arrived, they noticed the victim’s face was bloody, swollen and disfigured.
According to court documents, the victim told officers her now ex-husband, 28-year-old David Guthier, came home while she was sitting on the couch with her 4-year-old son.
She told police the defendant had been drinking when he grabbed her by her shoulders and dragged her into a bedroom. Their other young child was sleeping in another bedroom nearby.
According to the victim, after he dragged her into a bedroom, he tore off all her clothes and began punching her in the face and repeatedly kicked her genitals. She says Guthier then grabbed an AR-15 rifle and began beating her in the face with the stock of the rifle.
The victim says she lost consciousness when Guthier began hitting her again and strangled her. She told officers that’s when she thought she was going to die.
According to the arrest affidavit, officers found the AR-15 on the floor covered in blood. There were also pieces of long female hair and scalp found in it. At the scene, police found blood on the living room, bathroom and bedroom floors and on the bed. There was also a broken china cabinet in the living room and two holes punched in the wall in the bedroom where the defendant was found sleeping. Police also found anabolic steroids and syringes in the defendant’s home during the investigation.
The victim suffered from serious bodily injury with a broken nose and cracked pelvis.
Guthier plead guilty to Assault in the First Degree (F3), Assault in the Second Degree (F4) and False Imprisonment (M2). Those three charges are all considered acts of Domestic Violence.
On Tuesday, as part of a plea agreement, a judge sentenced Guthier to a stipulated 25 years in the Department of Corrections.
“This victim is lucky to be alive today,” Assistant District Attorney Robb Miller said. “On the day the defendant did this to his wife with his young children nearby, he tried breaking her down and bringing her to the lowest of lows. He tried breaking her physically, mentally and emotionally. And though he almost succeeded, he lost. It’s actually the victim and the children who won. They won a new future where they can live a life of freedom and not live in fear anymore.”