Judge Billy Sipe has ordered a 15 year prison term for a Kingman man who had two violent encounters involving his estranged wife. It was the harshest sentence possible for Eric Maxwell, 42, under terms of a plea agreement convicting him of attempted second degree murder in one case and robbery in another.
Prosecutor Jeff Haws said the robbery occurred in November, 2017 when Maxwell removed a screen to crawl through a window to enter the building where his wife worked in Kingman. Haws said Maxwell chased the victim through and outside the building and that he committed robbery by taking her cell phone when she tried to call for help.
Haws said the attempted murder occurred five months later, in May, 2018, when Maxwell drove by the Airway Avenue trailer park where his wife resided and spotted her outside on the property with another man. Haws said Maxwell turned around and parked his vehicle before confronting the male subject.
Haws said Maxwell struck the man several times and rendered him defenseless when he pulled his shirt up over his head. He said the victim was stabbed, suffering a punctured heart wound for which he was treated at Kingman Regional Medical Center.
His attorney Scott Ruffner said Maxwell maintains his involvement in the stabbing was really “an act of self defense that went awry.”
Judge Sipe said Maxwell is fortunate that the victim survived. Sipe noted that the pre sentencing report indicated that the victim actually died three times while undergoing surgery, but that doctors miraculously resuscitated him each time.
