Man held without bail on domestic charges

A Springfield man was ordered held without bail Thursday after a woman reported he had choked her to the point “she was afraid he was going to kill her,” police said.
http://rutlandherald.com/article/20140927/NEWS02/709279936

Thomas Jelliffe Sr. was jailed without bail Thursday after a woman alleged she’d been choked to the point she couldn’t breathe. Photo: PHOTO BY ERIC FRANCISPublished September 27, 2014 in the Rutland Herald Man held without bail on domestic charges By ERIC FRANCIS CORRESPONDENT WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A Springfield man was ordered held without bail Thursday after a woman reported he had choked her to the point “she was afraid he was going to kill her,” police said. Thomas Jelliffe Sr., 44, pleaded innocent to first-degree aggravated domestic assault in White River Junction criminal court. He was ordered held without bail. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. Springfield Police Officer Anthony Leonard said a woman on Pleasant Street in Springfield told officers Wednesday that “Jelliffe has been assaulting (her) over the course of the past three nights.” She said she had undergone a surgical tracheotomy to her throat several years ago and that was where Jelliffe punched her, police said. She told police that later in the evening, he choked her to the point she couldn’t breathe, causing her to “drop to the ground like a box of rocks.” Leonard said the woman had visible abrasions and discolored spots on her neck, so she was taken to Springfield Hospital for treatment. Jelliffe sat at the defense table Thursday and scoffed loudly on several occasions when prosecutors quoted the woman as saying she was in serious fear of Jelliffe. Public defender Dan Stevens said that, according to the police report, the woman had a blood-alcohol level of 0.256 when she was treated at the emergency room. He said her account of the alleged assault may have been distorted by her inebriation. Leonard wrote that Jelliffe “voluntarily stated that he had grabbed Griswold by the throat but only held her for a couple of seconds before letting her go.” Jelliffe also said the woman had hit him in the eye, which was slightly discolored and swollen, the report said. Jelliffe has a prior domestic assault conviction involving the same woman. He has also been convicted for a sex offense involving a child and furnishing alcohol to minors.