Jun 13, 2007 6:54 pm US/Central
Man Allegedly Severed Wife's Tongue, Windpipe
Minneapolis (AP) ―
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Meg Lundeen remained in critical condition Tuesday at North Memorial Medical Center. Doctors reattached her tongue, but it wasn't immediately clear how her ability to speak or taste would be affected.
CBS
An argument over smoking led a Brooklyn Center man to slash his wife's throat, severing her tongue and windpipe, prosecutors alleged Tuesday.
Authorities said Meg Lundeen and her husband, Randy P. Aaser, visited a couple bars with friends and colleagues to celebrate her 30th birthday Friday night. But before the couple returned home, Lundeen called a friend to say they'd been fighting and she wanted to come over.
She didn't make it there. Around 2:40 a.m., a neighbor found Lundeen bleeding profusely on her own driveway.
Aaser was charged with second-degree attempted murder Tuesday. He was being held in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Lundeen remained in critical condition Tuesday at North Memorial Medical Center. Doctors reattached her tongue, but it wasn't immediately clear how her ability to speak or taste would be affected.
Lundeen's neighbor saved her life because she soon would have bled to death without help, said Lt. Scott Nadeau of the Brooklyn Center Police Department.
Nadeau said police hadn't been able to interview Lundeen, who hasn't been able to speak but was expected to survive. He said her tongue was severed toward the back of the mouth.
According to the criminal complaint, the couple were out celebrating her birthday Friday night. She told a friend she wanted to buy cigarettes, but that she had quit smoking and that her husband would be mad if he found out. She called the friend about their argument after they left the bar around 2 a.m.
A neighbor heard the door bang at the couple's home between 2:30 and 2:45 a.m. After hearing moaning, the neighbor found Lundeen. The neighbor checked inside the couple's house, found a lot of blood, went back out and asked Lundeen if her husband had cut her. Lundeen couldn't speak but gave the thumbs up signal.
The complaint said Aaser called a friend around 3 a.m. and said Lundeen had pulled a knife on him. he said he grabbed and then cut her neck. He said he was sorry, the complaint said. Police arrested him around 3:20 a.m. Police found a bloody 8-inch knife in the couple's kitchen.
Aaser and Lundeen are licensed as respiratory care practitioners and worked at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, the hospital confirmed.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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