WEST BEND, WI – A West Bend man has been charged with attempted murder after stabbing his ex-girlfriend in a Walmart parking lot.
Police say Craig Hron, 50, ambushed the woman he used to live with in the parking lot of the Walmart on W. Paradise Drive at around 7 a.m. Sunday, slashing her with a knife as she attempted to get into her car.
“We heard this loud, blood curdling screaming. He was full of rage, just punching away, slamming the door against her, dragging her out, trying to get into the driver’s seat,” said Cody Bauer, one of the victim’s co-workers.
According to police, Bauer tried to step in and stop the attack. He was “punching him in the arm, just trying to get in there,” the Good Samaritan said.
Hron had left his own vehicle parked in the lot of a neighboring business and approached the victim, 45, on foot, knowing where she routinely parked. The victim told investigators that Hron also made threats about harming her son while carrying out the attack.
The victim was able to fend off the assault and held Hron off until the co-worker came to help her. That man and a group of several bystanders subdued Hron and held him until 5-0 rolled up. Officers took Hron into custody without further incident. Police recovered the knife used in the attack, as well as a fake gun.
The victim had filed for a Temporary Restraining Order against Hron just two days prior to the attack; however the order hadn’t yet been served. The victim received several lacerations which required immediate medical attention, and was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital.
Hron was arrested for Attempted First Degree murder, Aggravated Domestic Battery and stalking. He is being held without bond at the Washington County Jail.
FOX6 News is reporting Hron was part of a 1990s cold case investigation. In that case, 18-year-old Berit Beck was on her way to an Appleton computer training seminar, but never made it there. Her body was discovered in a ditch in Fond du Lac County.
The cause of death was strangulation and suffocation. Police called Hron a suspect in that case, but the evidence never linked him to the crime, and he was never charged. The Washington County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the charges in this latest case.
This article was written by Agony In Black for The Dreamin Demon - the Internet's self-appointed buzzkill.