An American man is under arrest for reportedly attempting to kill his wife during a brutal attack on the woman, a local he met and married in Liberia, Africa.
Lucas Richards, a missionary, was taken into police custody for a “criminal attempt to commit murder and aggravated assault” in connection to the Sept. 14 incident, according to the Liberia National Police.
Officials say that around 3 p.m., Richards drove with Jessica Lloyd in Caldwell township when he allegedly attacked her, “leaving her with lacerations on her neck, the back of her head and fingers.”
She was transported to a local hospital for medical treatment. According to the Liberian Observer, the victim is Richards’ wife, and they met at a boarding school while he was still married to another woman. Lloyd was reportedly sent home from the school after officials found out about the affair.
Richards said Lloyd asked him for money to go to the grocery store on the day of the incident, and after she was done, he dropped her off to get a motorbike.
He denied the accusations against him and told police that a motorbike randomly struck her on the road, the outlet reported, adding that it “caused her “to fall backward and roll into the ditch.”
Per the outlet, the victim denied his account and said Richards wielded a knife at her. In her version, Lloyd said he had a knife in his possession and put it in his pocket because he was afraid of snakes. The couple then went to a crowded area on the riverside.
“Later on, we went to some kind of bush area. He said he wanted to urinate. After urinating, he said he saw some kind of animal in the bush, but the knife was in his pocket,” Lloyd recounted to police, per the outlet. “So he called me to come see. But I told him that I was scared. So I just stood behind him. If I was going to get closer, he would have killed me right there, so I just stood behind him.”
According to the report, Richards urinated for a second time and made several stops, including by a cemetery. At one point, she said Richards claimed that he had to change the tire and needed her assistance. The victim stated that he started using a metal tool to work on the tire when things took a turn.
“So, as he was cleaning it, I heard ‘boop’ —- I thought the car tire burst, or current jerked me, so I fell on the ground and started jerking,” Lloyd alleged, per the outlet. “When I woke up, he pushed me back on the ground. That was when he took the knife and began cutting my neck.”
Lloyd survived, but it’s unclear who contacted law enforcement. According to GNN Liberia, a news outlet, the National Civil Society Council of Liberia called the incident a “barbaric act” and demanded community leaders stand against the crime.
“We are all calling on all pressure groups and rights-based organizations to join this campaign in seeking justice for the victim,” the council told the outlet in a statement. “This is a life of a Liberian that could have just been lost for no reason.”
