(Stillwater, Okla.) – A Stillwater man convicted of assault with intent to kill in South Carolina has been released from the Payne County Jail on $75,000 bail on charges of trying to strangle his girlfriend on the day before Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving, as well as being a felon in possession of a handgun, court records show.
William Anderson Jr., 39, was arraigned Thursday on the three-count felony charge filed last week. Due to his criminal record, Anderson could be given as much as three life prison terms if convicted of all counts on which he has been ordered to return to court on Jan. 31.
His girlfriend, who told Officer Miguel Najera she moved with Anderson to Stillwater from South Carolina, said that Anderson had strangled and raped her, Stillwater Police Detective Kyle Bruce alleged in an affidavit.
At the Stillwater Medical Center, Anderson’s girlfriend said she was assaulted at 1 a.m. on Nov. 21 and also at 5 p.m. on Nov. 22, the affidavit alleged.
She said that on the day before Thanksgiving, she was at Anderson’s apartment when he came home intoxicated and they got into an argument, the affidavit alleged.
She said that Anderson put his hands around her neck and started to strangle her, the affidavit alleged. She “recalled coughing and feeling nauseous,” the affidavit alleged.
She said that Anderson had strangled her two weeks earlier during an argument and showed the officer photos on her phone of injuries on her neck from the previous incident, the affidavit alleged.
She said that on Thanksgiving they were at Anderson’s apartment when they began arguing about religious beliefs and he again started to strangle her, the affidavit alleged. She said she “thought she passed out for a few seconds,” and woke up to Anderson partially undressing her, the affidavit alleged.
She said that Anderson physically restrained her and began having sex with her, the affidavit alleged. She said she left the apartment after Anderson passed out, the affidavit alleged.
She showed the officer text messages “where Anderson said he was sorry, but never admitted anything,” the affidavit alleged.
At the Stillwater hospital, a nurse observed injuries on both sides of her neck, along with three abrasions on her neck, but no trauma was found during a rape examination, the affidavit alleged.
Anderson’s girlfriend said that Anderson had a handgun that she had seen when he took her to a rural road in Payne County where he wanted her to shoot the gun, the affidavit alleged.
According to Payne County court documents, Anderson had been convicted in Georgetown County, S.C. of:
* assault with intent to kill and given an eight-year sentence in 2003;
* pointing and presenting firearms at a person and given a five-year sentence in 2003;
* manufacturing/possessing a drug with intent to distribute and given a five-year sentence in 2009.
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