Domestic assault elevated to attempted murder

PALMER — A domestic violence assault case has taken on new gravity after a Palmer grand jury decided two days before Christmas to charge a Wasilla man with attempted murder.

According to an Alaska State Trooper press statement, Joseph D. Packard, was arrested Dec. 19 shortly before 10 p.m. when troopers were called to a home off of Beverly Lakes Road where an assault was reportedly in progress.

Troopers say Packard assaulted two people and did $100 damage to the home. He was jailed without bail.

The press release ends there. The details of what happened in that house remain murky and attempts to gain more information failed — the court file was unavailable Thursday and the court was closed Friday, the investigating trooper was on leave and the district attorney’s office was closed for the holidays.

Trooper spokeswoman Beth Ipsen said in an e-mail that there are allegations Packard may have strangled his victim, but more information was unavailable as of press time.

Packard was initially charged with assault and criminal mischief. But when the case went to the grand jury, that body decided an attempted murder charge was warranted. The grand jury handed down its indictment Wednesday.

The grand jury’s indictment, a type of document invariably devoid of details, names two victims. The attempted murder charge states that Packard intended to kill a woman and took a substantial step toward doing it.

A third-degree assault charge claims he injured a child who was 7 years old on Dec. 19 but has since turned 8. The type of charge requires that the injury required medical treatment.

Packard was due in court Thursday but his hearing was delayed. His next court appearance is scheduled for Monday, when he will have a dollar amount set for his bail. Jail records listed him Saturday afternoon as housed at the Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility.

Attempted first-degree murder carries the same maximum penalty as first-degree murder — 99 years in prison.

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