A Higbee man has been charged in Daviess County with two counts of felony third-degree assault after allegedly assaulting another detainee at the Daviess-DeKalb Regional Jail in August.
Twenty-one-year-old Edward James Elijah Withey’s bond was set at $35,000 cash only. He is to submit to any form of alcohol or drug testing immediately upon the request of the court or law enforcement.
A probable cause statement accuses Withey of assaulting the other detainee five times in about 30 minutes in a jail cell. Withey allegedly struck the other detainee in the face, hit him, kicked him, and choked him. One of the times Withey reportedly attacked the other detainee, it drew blood from that man.
The probable cause statement notes Withey was arrested for murder and has been charged in Sullivan County with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and abandonment of a corpse. He is next to appear in court on those charges on November 3. Withey’s wife, Mattie, was found dead on the floor in the couple’s apartment in Milan in May with an apparent gunshot wound to her face.
Upon Withey’s arrest, law enforcement observed red stains, which appeared to be blood, on the hooded sweatshirt he was wearing. Officers also reportedly found a .22 caliber Savage rifle in the bedroom in which Mattie was found as well as a half-pint Ball jar with ammunition in the living room.
