Police: Clay County woman nearly killed shortly after protective order hearing

BRAZIL, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)— A Brazil man wore a wolf mask and attacked a woman with a hatchet on the same day she went to a protective order hearing, according to court documents released Tuesday.

Details of the October 11 incident came to light after WTWO obtained a probable cause affidavit.

According to the PCA, a Brazil woman attempted to get a protective order against 34-year-old Michael Sheppard on Friday — two weeks after the pair were involved in a physical altercation.

After the hearing, Sheppard left the courthouse and returned to the woman’s home. When she arrived he attacked her with a hatchet outside the home, the affidavit states. Then, while wearing a wolf mask, he entered the home, fought with her mother, and attempted to make contact with a child inside the home.

“Do you want to go see your husband,” he said to the woman knowing that her husband was dead, the report states.

During the altercation, the woman was able to get the child out of the house through a window and hand the child off to a neighbor.

When police arrived they tended to the victim and began to arrest Sheppard. By that point, Sheppard had already injured himself with a knife and he repeatedly asked officers to kill him, saying that the knife wasn’t strong enough.

“I killed her I can’t believe it happened,” he said, according to the PCA. “This morning I knew it was going to happen today.”

Sheppard was ultimately arrested and the victim was flown to a hospital in Indianapolis for further treatment. As of Monday afternoon, the victim was alive but in critical condition.

The PCA states that officers determined that the hatchet was a Walmart brand and were able to contact the Brazil area store and receive confirmation that Sheppard had purchased the weapon from the store. Officers have requested the following charges: attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, two counts of intimidation, and resisting law enforcement.

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