MONROE — A man accused of first-degree intentional homicide for allegedly slashing the throat of a female victim with whom he lived has pleaded not guilty to the charges in Lafayette County Circuit Court.
Joseph Wallgren,32, is charged with the crime, a Class B felony, and remains in Lafayette County Jail on $500,000 bond.
His arrest came on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, just before 8:20 p.m., when the Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call from 109 Railroad Street in the Village of Argyle reporting that a 59-year-old had been cut with a kitchen knife.
“A Lafayette County Deputy arrived on scene at 8:27pm, and found the female victim had been cut with a kitchen knife across her neck and hands as well as several superficial puncture wounds,” said Sheriff Reg Gill, in a statement. “The female victim was transported by ambulance to the Monroe Hospital with substantial, but non-life-threatening injuries.”
According to the criminal complaint, Wallgren lived with the victim and may have been having a mental health crisis of some kind. He reportedly heard the victim talking to another person and from that conversation, inferred that she was going to hurt a child.
“I think she was going to eat the child…that’s what came in to my head,” Wallgren allegedly told police shortly after the incident. “…I’ve been telling my family that I’ve been hearing voices…too.”
He then went into a bedroom, restrained the victim, and slashed her throat, before another apparent resident of the home rushed in and pulled Wallgren off the victim.
A witness described the victim’s wound for police. “The gash was ‘oh my God’, it was horrible,” he said, in the criminal complaint.
The victim told police that Wallgren may have been angry at her for complaining about the suspect and someone else who was living with her and being extremely messy.
“She screamed for Witness 1 to help her as she attempted to grab the knife out of Joseph’s hands,” the complaint said, after words had been exchanged.
A trial date for Wallgren has not been set. He faces a maximum potential penalty of 60 years in prison if convicted.