ANCHORAGE - An Anchorage woman is alive thanks to a neighbor who heard her screams and ran to intervene.
John Bagley told police he wanted to kill his wife Judy because she was divorcing him. Wednesday night he almost made good on that promise.
There were blood drops in the driveway and in the snow Thursday at the Ocean View home where John and Judy Bagley have lived for years. Paul Sanchez is the neighbor who lives just across the street.
“We’ve been friends with them ever since we got into the neighborhood; they’re fantastic people,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez watched the couple’s home when they wintered in Arizona. But this year, he said, they came back early.
“When I went to take the key back he told me he was having a marital problem and said I will talk to you later,” Sanchez said.
Wednesday night that problem came to a head, and Thursday the 73-year-old Bagley faced charges of attempted murder. Police say he stabbed his wife in the chest with a butcher knife, first inside the house, then in the driveway, when she slipped on the ice and fell.
Her screams alerted a neighbor who was outside walking his dog. Police said the neighbor happened to have a gun.
“He had a weapon on him so he fired a warning shot and at that time the suspect stopped stabbing her,” said Lt. Anthony Henry. “He made eye contact with him and at that time he decided to move forward and pushed the suspect off of the victim.”
The neighbor was able to get a knife and a gun from John Bagley and hold him at bay until police arrived. Officers call the man a “lifesaver” and Judy Bagley agrees.
“All through this drama, one of the things that she had pointed out, even loading into the ambulance is that this gentleman saved her life,” Henry said.
At last word Judy Bagley was in critical but stable condition.