By Vicky Wedig
Staff Writer
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 29 for a Whitewater man charged with beating his wife on Valentine’s Day in East Troy.
Jeffrey S. McKenzie, 39, was charged Feb. 19 in Walworth County Circuit Court with felony intimidation of a victim, strangulation and suffocation, misdemeanor battery, misdemeanor bail jumping and disorderly conduct, all with domestic abuse assessments.
According to the criminal complaint, Kelly McKenzie called police Feb. 14 to report she had been attacked by her husband in the Town of East Troy and was hiding in her daughter’s room. Kelly McKenzie said her husband came home after drinking, lunged at her and began striking her and taking her to the ground, according to the complaint. She said Jeff McKenzie laid on top of her and punched her, and she was unable to breathe, according to the complaint.
Kelly McKenzie said Jeff McKenzie took her cell phone and said she could not call anyone for help. She said McKenzie also grabbed her around the neck and choked her until she was unable to breathe, according to the complaint. She said after about an hour, McKenzie fell asleep, and she was able to get free. She said she went to her daughter’s room and called 911, but McKenzie heard her and grabbed at her while she was holding her daughter, according to the complaint.
McKenzie left the house when he heard the dispatcher talking, and Waukesha County sheriff’s deputies and a K-9 unit spent several hours tracking and chasing McKenzie on foot before he was arrested, according to the complaint.
McKenzie was out on bond at the time on disorderly conduct and battery charges with a condition that he have no violent contact with Kelly McKenzie.
