Saturday, February 20, 1999
Man indicted for trying to kill wife
BY SHEILA McLAUGHLIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
LEBANON — A Deerfield Township man accused of trying to stab his wife to death was indicted Friday as a judge was preparing to release him from jail.
Philip Cothran, 48, remained in the Warren County Justice Center after a grand jury charged him with attempted murder, kidnapping, felonious assault and child endangering in connection with the Feb. 6 attack on Terri Cothran.
Mr. Cothran had been released from the Lewis Center psychiatric hospital this week. He was due in Mason Municipal Court Friday for his initial arraignment on charges of felonious assault and domestic violence.
Municipal Court Judge David Batsche approved Mr. Cothran's release as long as he was placed on home incarceration and resided with a son in Harrison, Ohio.
The bond also required Mr. Cothran, a Procter & Gamble lab technician, to post a $10,000 cash or $20,000 surety bond or to surrender his passport.
A temporary protective order issued this week requires Mr. Cothran to stay 1,000 yards from his wife, their 3-year-old twin daughters, and Mrs. Cothran's daughter from a previous marriage.
Judge Batsche said defendants in criminal cases are entitled to bond unless they are charged with murder.
“I was told that whatever cash bond ... I put on him, he could make. This is not an indigent person. I have to put a bond on him. Whether it would work or whether it was enough is always debatable. I wanted something on him so he couldn't get anywhere near her,” Judge Batsche said Friday.
The home incarceration unit employs a leg bracelet and phone monitoring system that alerts authorities when the defendant leaves home.
Judge Batsche said the residence where Mrs. Cothran is staying also would have been wired to set off alarms if Mr. Cothran came near the house. Mrs. Cothran, 41, was released from University Hospital last week.
Friday's hearing was canceled after the court learned that the home incarceration system, which was being borrowed from Hamilton County, was not available until Monday.
The grand jury indictment bumps the case to the jurisdiction of Warren County Common Pleas Court. Another judge will decide Mr. Cothran's bond at arraignment on March 5.
However, Mr. Cothran's lawyer, Charles Rittgers, said he hopes to get the hearing moved up to next week.
Mr. Cothran is accused of stabbing Mrs. Cothran in the chest, back and face at their Shadow Ridge Drive home. He watched her until he thought she was dead, and then tried to asphyxiate himself in the garage, authorities said.
Mr. Cothran had locked the couple's twins in their bedroom before the attack.
The children were not harmed. Mrs. Cothran ran to a neighbor's house for help when Mr. Cothran went into the garage. Court records show that Mr. Cothran had been in psychotherapy for three years for depression.
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