New charges in family torture case
Man arrested for allegedly abusing wife, kids for years faces more felony counts
NORRISTOWN >> Additional felony charges have been filed against a Lower Providence man authorities say repeatedly tortured his wife and children.
Joseph Myhre, 44, faces multiple new felony counts of aggravated assault and strangulation in addition to unlawful restraint, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, possession of an instrument of crime and harassment following six years of alleged abuse of his family members, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Lower Providence Police Chief Stanely M. Turtle announced Thursday.
Myhre is already behind bars for such heinous acts as allegedly fracturing his wife’s skull from repeatedly punching her in the head, beating his two children, an 11-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son, with PVC pipe and wooden dowels, shocking them with remote-controlled dog shock collars, sticking needles under their fingers and toe nails and squeezing their fingers with pliers.
Now the new charges stem from Myhre’s wife and children telling investigators the previous offenses were just the tip of the iceberg.
Court records show Myhre’s wife told police that in 2013 she needed surgery and 18 pins placed in her hand after her husband held her down on the floor, took her hand and twisted it. Additionally, she said Myhre would punch her on her head and ears. One time she received a deep laceration on the back of her ear and also developed cauliflower ear on her left ear as a result of repeated impacts.
Myhre is also accused of strangling his wife. She said he strangled her multiple times. Their daughter said she saw her mother being strangled approximately two days before Myhre’s arrest last Friday, according to court documents.
Myhre’s wife also alleges he hit her with a stick on the head, hands, legs and feet. She said she lost a toenail on two different occasions for being beaten on the feet and toes. She was routinely beaten on the legs with the stick leaving her calves permanently discolored.
Myhre’s wife also accused him of squeezing her fingers with a vise grip and sticking lancet needles into her tongue, toes and fingers. She said he would make her place the family’s dog shock collar on herself, leaving burn marks and extreme pain. Her husband also stabbed her with a steak knife, while seated at a table in their home, court records indicate.
Myhre admitted to investigators March 16, he had struck his wife “a few times” and it had gotten out of hand. He also said he injured her hand in the past, forcing her to go to the hospital, according to court records.
Myhre was video arraigned Thursday on the charges before Magisterial District Judge Cathleen Rebar, who set bail at an additional $1 million. He remains at Montgomery County Correctional Facility on a total of $2 million bail. A preliminary hearing is set for 9:30 a.m., May 1, and will be prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Alexandria McMaster.
Myhre was arrested last Friday for the assault after his wife said he pinned her to the floor and repeatedly punched her in the back of the head. The woman told investigators she waited for Myhre to fall asleep at their Greene’s Way Circle home before driving herself to Einstein Medical Center Montgomery, where she was later diagnosed with a fractured skull on March 15.
In the following days after he was arrested, detectives learned of an extended patter of alleged abuse in which the man punched, kicked, strangled and beat his two children with wooden dowels and PVC pipes.
Myhre also reportedly tortured the children with remote-controlled dog shock collars, would stick lancets under their finger and toenails, and squeeze their fingers with pliers in addition to verbally abusing them.
In a series of interviews beginning April 3, Myhre’s wife and two school-aged children revealed a saga of systemic abuse that had occurred over the past six years.
The children told investigators that in addition to striking them with his fists, feet and other objects, Myhre would also strangle them to the point where they would lose consciousness and sometimes kneel or step on their stomachs causing extreme pain.
The dog collars, they said, he would use on their calves, sometimes causing them to lose feeling in their extremities. One of the children described his indifference to their suffering, as he would walk around as if nothing was happening.
Both children told detectives they had witnessed their father physically abusing their mother, who provided investigators with a cellphone recording in which one of the children is heard screaming and begging for Myhre to stop. Throughout the incident, Myhre is heard berating the child.
The children also reported that Myhre would make them take ice baths to reduce the swellings from the beatings, and instructed them to lie about how they got bruised or injured.
In all, the children, who are home-schooled, and their mother estimated hundreds of instances of abuse going back at least six years, according to court records.
When detectives interviewed Myhre on April 6, he reportedly admitted to striking the children with sticks and putting one of his children’s fingers in a vice grip. According to the affidavit, he told investigators that he didn’t do these things to hurt the children and they never cried or told him they were in pain.
Police subsequently searched the Myhre home and found the children had enclosed wooden boxes with air holes for beds. Authorities also found taped off pieces of PVC pipe, lancets, pliers and a dog shock collar with a remote and charging cable.
Myhre reportedly admitted to owning a dog collar, although he did not own a dog.
He has been charged with multiple counts of aggravated assault, strangulation, unlawful restraint, endangering the welfare of children, reckless endangerment, possessing instruments of crime and harassment.