Attempted murder for bat attack

PALMER — A Palmer grand jury raised the stakes for a man who hit his girlfriend in the hip with a baseball bat when it added an attempted murder to the list of charges stemming from the assault.

Philip Neal, 61, was arrested Oct. 19 and charged with assault and reckless endangerment. A week later on Oct. 26, a Palmer grand jury added the attempted murder charge.

According to court filings, the case began with a call to 911 at 5:21 a.m. from Neal’s girlfriend. Troopers responded and found her at a house across from the one where she lives with Neal.

She “was crying and having difficulty standing,” according to a sworn statement from the Alaska State Trooper who investigated. The woman was “trembling with fear and continued to ask where Neal was located.”

Eventually, troopers were able to get the story out of her. Her grandchildren — ages 7 and 8 — were staying over that night and she wanted them to sleep in her bed with her. Neal, the woman said, got upset at being displaced.

“She was lying in bed with her two granddaughters and Neal came into the bedroom wielding a baseball bat,” troopers wrote. “Neal struck her on the right hip with the baseball bat and almost struck her granddaughters in the process.”

Troopers say the bat left a “large swollen impression” on the woman’s hip.

She was loaded into an ambulance, where she told troopers she was afraid Neal would kill her.

Troopers also talked to Neal — who smelled of booze and had bloodshot eyes and thick speech — and got much the same story with a few added details.

“Philip stated that he was upset about not being able to sleep in his bed and struck (his girlfriend) on her butt with the bat to wake her and make her move,” according to the trooper statement.

The girlfriend’s daughter took the bat away from Neal. The girlfriend and the kids went across the street.

“Philip stated he knew he was going to jail for what he did,” troopers report.

He was given a breath test and blew a .198. The legal limit for driving is .08.

Court records indicate that Neal was at one point ordered released on his own recognizance. After the attempted murder charge was added, though, he was appointed a third-party custodian to watch over him while he awaits trial and had to come up with $10,000 bail, which court records show he got through a bondsman.

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.