As noted, veteran pro wrestler BJ Whitmer was fired from his job as an AEW Coach earlier this month after he was arrested on charges of domestic violence. Whitmer was arrested in Boone County, Kentucky on June 4, and charged with strangulation in the 1st degree, which is a Class C felony that carries a potential penalty of 5-10 years in prison. Whitmer was released from jail on a bail of $25,000 on June 12. You can click here for our original report with AEW’s statement.
In an update, FOX 19 in Cincinnati reports that Whitmer was also charged with burglary. The report from the Boone County, Kentucky Sheriff’s Department notes that he was charged with 2nd degree burglary, which is also as a Class C felony in Kentucky, also potentially punishable by 5-10 years in prison.
The alleged victim in the case spoke to FOX 19 on the condition of anonymity, and said she dated Whitmer but he assaulted her after their breakup.
“I was literally fighting for my life,” she said. “I came into my house, and he was standing at the top of my steps waiting for me.”
The woman said Whitmer attacked her, strangled her and held her down in her home.
The woman recalled, “And he squeezed tighter and said, ‘I’m going to fucking kill you. Do you hear me? I’m going to kill you!’ And once we got to the point of where we stopped moving, and then he continued choking me, I absolutely knew.”
The woman said she was able to escape.
“Instead of coughing, I lied and said, ‘I already called the cops,’ and the second I said that he let go,” she said.
The woman said she has added security cameras to her home and that Boone County Sheriff’s deputies have been randomly patrolling her home. She also said she still doesn’t feel safe.
The report from the Boone County, Kentucky Sheriff’s Department backs up the allegations. It notes that Whitmer entered the residence of his former girlfriend without consent through an open door at 6:14pm that evening, “requesting that she delete messages from her phone that were” sent by Whitmer. When she refused, “Mr. Whitmer became irate” and “approached her, grabbed her by the throat and threw her down on the couch where he began strangling her.” She “advised that Mr. Whitmer impeded her ability to breathe to the point where she thought she was going to lose consciousness.”
In the lead-up to the incident, the woman stated that he had been receiving texts from Whitmer all day, including one where he said he would “see her soon.” She then witnessed him entering her home while returning from her neighborhood pool.
Whitmer had left the home by the time deputies arrived. The report states that the woman had bruising on her neck and visible red marks when deputies arrived at her home. She was treated and evaluated by Walton Fire/EMS, and stated that her “throat was very sore,” but she declined to be hospitalized or taken to an Emergency Room.
The woman advised deputies that Whitmer had likely gone to a relative’s house, and that’s where he was found and detained by Alexandria, KY Police until he could be questioned. Whitmer declined to comment to the police at that time.
A new report from PWInsider notes that AEW officials reached out to the woman to provide whatever personal support they could following Whitmer’s arrest.
Whitmer still has not publicly commented on the charges as of this writing, and he has not responded to requests for comments. He would need to be indicted by a grand jury for the case against him to go forward, which is likely.
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
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