During yesterday’s bail hearing, Judge David A. Wiseman reduced the recommended bail of $100,000 to half and also subjected 41-year-old Peter Villagomez to several conditions set by the court.
The judge said Villagomez must not leave Tinian without court permission, not have any contact with the victim, report to the court whenever required to do so, and follow all appointments with his lawyer.
The defendant was represented by Assistant Public Defender Matt Holley while the government was represented by Assistant Attorney General Katie Busenkell.
Villagomez was charged with attempted murder, assault and battery and disturbing the peace.
In an affidavit, Police Officer Barbara K. Arend of the Department of Public Safety-Domestic Violence/Juvenile Section stated that at about 12:17 a.m. on Oct. 18, 2008, Firefighter Ignacio Kiyoshi, who was off duty at that time, saw a man strangling a woman on the side of the road.
The firefighter said he and another companion passed by the back of the police station when they saw a man lying on the side of the road.
Thinking that it was a person who was run over by a car, they got down to investigate.
They discovered two persons — one was the defendant and he was strangling and choking a woman.
The woman’s face was swollen.
The firefighter said they tried and succeeded to remove the defendant’s arm and only then was the woman able to regain her breath.
The victim told police that she was walking toward her sister’s house while the defendant was walking behind her.
When they passed by the jungle area at the back of the police station, the defendant came up behind her, choked her and dragged her into the jungle.
She said the defendant continued to choke her to the point where she almost lost consciousness.
The victim added that she kept tapping the defendant to stop but he told her instead that he would kill her. She added that he assured the defendant he would not go to jail if he stopped. When he relaxed his grip a little, she said she ran to the shoulder of the road. He ran after her and choked her again. She said when she saw a car approaching, she threw her sunglasses at the vehicle to attract attention just before she passed out.
