Janesville man accused of trying to kill woman with hammer
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JANESVILLE—The victim of a savage hammer attack told police she believes she survived only because her young daughter yelled at a crucial moment.
Michael C. Hadley, 28, of 418 Rockport Road, Janesville, is accused of being the attacker. He was charged Thursday in Rock County Court with attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
A criminal complaint describes Monday's attack through the eyes of the victim, a woman Hadley knows, who said a highly intoxicated Hadley hit her with both sides of a claw hammer.
The woman said she had gone to a bedroom Monday to find Hadley in the doorway with a hammer in his hand, saying, “I'm going to (expletive) kill you,” according to the complaint.
The woman said he then hit her in the back of the head, she fell to the ground, and he continued to hit her with the hammer.
The woman said she might have blacked out for a moment, but she kicked at Hadley and was able to scoot into the hallway. At about the same time, her 2-year-old daughter appeared, yelled and asked if she was OK, the complaint states.
Hadley had hit her in the head six to eight times with the hammer, but he paused when the girl appeared, and the woman was able to grab the child and leave the house and lock the girl in the car, the complaint states.
Hadley appeared outside about 30 seconds later, dropped the hammer in front of her and said, “Here is your murder weapon,” the complaint states.
Police were called to the scene, Hadley's residence, at 12:45 p.m. Monday and found the woman and child outside the residence, waiting for help.
The woman's injuries were described as several cuts, scrapes and lumps on her head, a cut on her biceps from the hammer's claw, a scrape and bruise to her left palm and scrapes and swelling on her elbow and biceps.
Afterward, Hadley was so drunk that he was taken to Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center, where his blood-alcohol content was measured at 0.43, more than five times the legal limit for driving, according to the complaint.
Hadley is being held at the Rock County Jail. He made his initial court appearance Thursday, Oct. 15. A bail hearing is set for 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16.
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