UNION, Maine — A judge ordered a Union man held without bail after police say he tried to suffocate a woman whom he had previously threatened to kill.
Andrew Jura, 28, made his initial appearance Monday afternoon in Knox County Unified Court on charges of aggravated assault, felony domestic violence assault, domestic violence threatening with a dangerous weapon and violating a condition of release.
Police were called after the victim was taken to Pen Bay Medical Center in Rockport to be treated for injuries she received in the Sunday morning attack, according to an affidavit filed in court by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman told police that Jura was upset because she had stayed out late with friends. Phone records showed he had sent her 30 text messages that evening, according to the affidavit. When she returned to the home they shared, Jura allegedly had locked her out, but she got inside by opening a window.
Once she was inside, Jura struck her repeatedly in the face and then pressed a pillow over her face so hard that she had difficulty breathing, according to the affidavit. The woman told police that Jura told her “this is how you’re going to die.”
The woman managed to get away and into her car, but Jura stood behind it and would not let her leave, according to the affidavit. She used a phone to call her grandmother, who allegedly could hear Jura screaming and the sound of someone banging on the car.
Police said the woman had visible injuries to her face, arms and back.
Jura was free on bail at the time of the alleged assault and was scheduled to be in court this month for a hearing on prior charges stemming from an incident in October 2015 involving the same woman. Jura pleaded guilty in February to domestic violence criminal threatening, domestic violence terrorizing and disorderly conduct in that case.
Assistant District Attorney Jeffrey Baroody said Jura was upset that time over not being able to see his child and told the victim that he would shoot her and her family.
An agreement reached in February between the defense and the district attorney’s office on those charges called for the domestic violence charges to be dropped if he refrained from criminal conduct for six months. He would then plead guilty to the disorderly conduct only and would have been fined $250 if he had met the terms of the agreement.
The prosecution filed a motion Monday to revoke that agreement. Baroody asked for no bail, citing the seriousness of the charges. Jason Heath, the defense attorney for the day, asked for $1,000 bail, saying his client was a self-employed carpenter, owned a home, had never missed a court date and was a lifelong resident of the area with family in the area.
Judge Susan Sparaco, however, said the seriousness of the charges and his alleged violation of the agreement reached in February called for Jura being held without bail.