DARLINGTON - A former South Wayne man was charged this week in Lafayette County Circuit Court with beating a woman, causing her spleen to rupture.
Brandon James Murray, 36, now living in Brodhead, faces charges filed Monday of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, a Class E felony, and disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor.
He posted a $500 cash bond Tuesday with the conditions that he not drink or possess alcohol, go into bars or liquor stores or have contact with the victim.
The woman attended his initial appearance this week and told the court she wants to stay in contact with him and doesn't want him charged. She became upset when Judge Duane Jorgenson nonetheless ordered him to stay away from her.
During an unrelated investigation Jan. 3, the woman told a Lafayette County detective she was experiencing issues from a splenectomy - the surgical removal of the spleen - that she had in early September.
Under the detective's questioning, she said she was assaulted by Murray on Sept. 2, beginning at a residence in Nora, Illinois, then continuing at a house owned by Murray at 5510 County D in South Wayne.
The house caught fire late Jan. 2 under what Lafayette County Sheriff Reg Gill has described as "suspicious" circumstances. The fire is still under investigation.
According to the criminal complaint:
On Sept. 2, Murray made snide comments toward her that upset the woman, and when she went to leave, he punched her on the right side of her jaw, causing her to lose her balance and hit her head on the house.
She then hit him over the head with his beer bottle, grabbed her car keys and got into her car. He punched and shattered the driver's side mirror.
Murray and another man then followed her from Nora to South Wayne, where Murray assaulted her again, hitting, punching and kicking her in the side and chest three to five times.
He then fell asleep.
She soon became physically sick and started experiencing extreme pain. Murray woke to her screaming and unable to move. He took her to Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County where they found her spleen had ruptured and she was losing a lot of blood.
She was flown by a MedFlight helicopter to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison and underwent three blood transfusions before receiving the splenectomy.
Murray was "very intoxicated" and "does not remember" the fight, she told the detective.
Murray admitted he had been drinking but said there was no physical altercation. He told the detective he doesn't know how the woman's spleen injury happened. He said he remembered that they had a verbal confrontation but denied that it got physical.
Murray has an adjourned initial appearance Jan. 22.
Brandon James Murray, 36, now living in Brodhead, faces charges filed Monday of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, a Class E felony, and disorderly conduct, a Class B misdemeanor.
He posted a $500 cash bond Tuesday with the conditions that he not drink or possess alcohol, go into bars or liquor stores or have contact with the victim.
The woman attended his initial appearance this week and told the court she wants to stay in contact with him and doesn't want him charged. She became upset when Judge Duane Jorgenson nonetheless ordered him to stay away from her.
During an unrelated investigation Jan. 3, the woman told a Lafayette County detective she was experiencing issues from a splenectomy - the surgical removal of the spleen - that she had in early September.
Under the detective's questioning, she said she was assaulted by Murray on Sept. 2, beginning at a residence in Nora, Illinois, then continuing at a house owned by Murray at 5510 County D in South Wayne.
The house caught fire late Jan. 2 under what Lafayette County Sheriff Reg Gill has described as "suspicious" circumstances. The fire is still under investigation.
According to the criminal complaint:
On Sept. 2, Murray made snide comments toward her that upset the woman, and when she went to leave, he punched her on the right side of her jaw, causing her to lose her balance and hit her head on the house.
She then hit him over the head with his beer bottle, grabbed her car keys and got into her car. He punched and shattered the driver's side mirror.
Murray and another man then followed her from Nora to South Wayne, where Murray assaulted her again, hitting, punching and kicking her in the side and chest three to five times.
He then fell asleep.
She soon became physically sick and started experiencing extreme pain. Murray woke to her screaming and unable to move. He took her to Memorial Hospital of Lafayette County where they found her spleen had ruptured and she was losing a lot of blood.
She was flown by a MedFlight helicopter to the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison and underwent three blood transfusions before receiving the splenectomy.
Murray was "very intoxicated" and "does not remember" the fight, she told the detective.
Murray admitted he had been drinking but said there was no physical altercation. He told the detective he doesn't know how the woman's spleen injury happened. He said he remembered that they had a verbal confrontation but denied that it got physical.
Murray has an adjourned initial appearance Jan. 22.