A glamorous mayor attacked her husband with a crowbar and bit him in a crazed assault after he confessed to a ‘mistake in their marriage’, police said.
Shaunna O’Connell, 54, the Republican mayor of Taunton, Massachusetts, appeared in court Friday to face assault and battery charges stemming from the alleged attack on her husband Edward O’Connell in July.
A judge rejected the mayor’s attorneys’ request to dismiss the charges, who cited an affidavit from Edward saying he would refuse to testify against his wife and claimed they had reconciled.
He admitted in the affidavit that he and his wife had an ‘argument that got heated, and matters got physical’, but took responsibility for his wife’s alleged reaction and said he regretted calling the cops on her.
‘I made a mistake in our marriage, and I made a mistake involving the police,’ he said. No further details on that ‘mistake’ were shared.
Shaunna O’Connell, 54, the Republican mayor of Taunton, Massachusetts, allegedly attacked her husband with a crowbar and bit him in a crazed assault after he confessed to a ‘mistake in their marriage’
The mayor’s husband Edward O’Connell said he made a ‘mistake involving police’ as he sought to downplay the alleged assault, and has said he will refuse to testify against his wife
Following the judge’s dismissal of O’Connell’s request to drop the case, the mayor will stand trial in December even as her husband refuses to testify against her.
Prosecutors say they plan to call five witnesses and the defense plans to call two, with O’Connell’s attorneys saying they have affidavits from Shaunna and Edward downplaying the incident.
Edward maintained that he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if questioned, and said in his affidavit that he wants ‘this criminal action dismissed’ against his wife.
‘Shaunna and I are supporting each other through this. You have seen our affidavits. This media frenzy of our personal life is disappointing,’ he said.
Police said officers were called to their home for a welfare check around 8:20pm and found O’Connell’s husband in their driveway, who told officers that his wife bit him on the left forearm and hit him on the right hand with a ‘small crowbar-type tool.’
The couple said they had an ‘argument that got heated, and matters got physical’ over ‘marital issues’, but did not elaborate on the nature of their spat in July
O’Connell, a former state representative who was elected Mayor of Taunton in 2020, was arrested after she allegedly refused to comply with police and claimed not to know how her husband was injured
The mayor, seen in court, will face trial in December after a judge rejected her request to dismiss the case against her
Cops said they saw an open wound on Edward’s forearm ‘consistent with’ a bite, alongside ‘multiple open wounds’ on his knuckles, reports the Boston Globe.
Edward reportedly told police that he tried to drive away from their home but his wife ‘jumped on the hood’ of his car to stop him, and officers said they saw a small dent on the couple’s vehicle.
In her affidavit, Shaunna claimed that she and her husband argued over ‘marital issues’ on the night of July 19, leading her to go to an upstairs bedroom ‘where (she) felt safe.’
Edward told police that they had firearms in the home but they were locked in a safe, and when officers entered the property they found Shaunna locked inside their bedroom.
Police said she was uncooperative and refused to open the door, and when she eventually did so, she said ‘very little’ and told officers she didn’t know ‘what was actually told to them.’
In a statement Monday, O’Connell thanked her supporters, and said her husband ‘should have never involved the police, but it was a heated moment. We all have them’
O’Connell said she and her husband have been ‘married for 27 years and together for 34 years. We have two wonderful daughters (pictured all together), and this has been difficult for our family’
She went on to allege that her husband had been ‘verbally abusive’ toward her, but claimed to not know how her husband sustained his injuries, leading police to arrest her at the scene.
O’Connell, who previously pleaded not guilty in July, will now stand trial in December over charges of assault and battery.
In a statement released Monday after her hearing, the mayor thanked her community for reaching out to her to offer support.
‘It means a lot to my family,’ O’Connell said.
‘Like all couples, we had a disagreement. As Ted stated, he should have never involved the police, but it was a heated moment. We all have them.
‘Ted and I have been married for 27 years and together for 34 years. We have two wonderful daughters, and this has been difficult for our family.
‘We are all looking forward to a positive conclusion and putting this behind us. I always have and always will work hard for the people of Taunton.’
