AUBURN — An Androscoggin County grand jury indicted 30-year-old Mack Williams Jr. on five felony charges Wednesday, including on attempted murder of his girlfriend, Jill Weisman, in March.
Williams also was indicted on charges of aggravated assault and terrorizing Weisman and aggravated assault and terrorizing his roommate, Christopher Spence, 32, all stemming from an altercation in an apartment they shared on Washington Street.
If convicted of all charges, Williams faces as many as 30 years on each of the terrorizing charges and the attempted murder charge, another 15 years on the combined assault charges and more than $150,000 in fines.
According to court records, police were called to the Williams apartment at 6:30 p.m. on March 22 by Spence, who told emergency dispatchers that Williams and Weisman, 25, were arguing and the fight had turned physical. Spence told police that Williams tried to strangle Weisman with an electrical cord, then fled on foot before police arrived.
According to the indictment report, “during the strangulation, Mack Williams did state to Christopher Spence that he was attempting to kill Jill Weisman.”
When police arrived at the apartment, Weisman was lying on the floor and, after getting helped to her feet, she appeared incoherent and only stared at officers when asked questions. They noticed a red mark encircling her neck, and that she was in pain from an injury to her left thigh.
Later, she told police Williams had hit her in the leg with a plastic guitar used for the video game Guitar Hero, and that she was hit in the back of the head with something else but didn’t know what it was. Spence told police Williams assaulted Weisman with a child’s metal chair.
Spence, who had been in his own bedroom with his girlfriend when the argument between Williams and Weisman started, said that when he opened his door he saw Williams “trying to strangle Jill with the electrical cord of an electric space heater,” and thought Williams was going to kill the woman.
Spence dragged Williams out of the bedroom and away from Weisman, and the two men fought in the living room.
According to the police affidavit, Williams then went back into his bedroom to get the guitar and hit Weisman with it. When Spence went into the bedroom to investigate, Williams hit him in the head with the guitar, breaking it.
When Spence threatened to call police, the men fought and Spence tried to keep Williams from hitting Weisman again. When Spence yelled to his girlfriend to call police, Williams ran from the apartment.
According to police, Weisman and Williams began arguing over a text message with a video that suggested Williams had cheated on her, but she said she doesn’t remember much of the attack.
After his arrest, he was held at Androscoggin County Jail on a bail of $10,000 cash or $20,000 real estate. He remained jailed Wednesday night. Williams is scheduled to next appear in court July 3.
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