Man extradited to Flagler to face charges that he tried to electrocute his estranged wife

Palm Coast Observer
News

A 32-year-old Palm Coast man who rigged his door with electrical wires in a failed attempt to electrocute his estranged wife is now at the Flagler County jail.

When someone inserted a key in the lock and then grabbed the handle, they would be closing a circuit: The current would flow from one hand through the chest and past the heart and then out the other arm. (Photo courtesy of FCSO)

Michael Scott Wilson, 32, was arrested in Knoxville, Tennessee, after the Dec. 28 incident, which occurred at 110 White Hall Drive. He was held in Tennessee on drug charges before being extradited to Flagler just after midnight Feb. 8 to face charges associated with the attempted electrocution, according to a Flagler County Sheriff's Office news release.

Wilson came up with the plan to harm his wife after she filed for divorce Dec. 6, and by the time he was caught, he'd changed his Facebook status to "widowed," according to a Flagler County Sheriff's Office report.

The door was rigged to shock anyone who tried to enter with a key, and he had tried to instruct his wife to use that particular door when she return to the house from a trip out of town to visit family.

The estranged wife heard some "strange information about the residence" from Wilson — indicating he may have done something dangerous to it — and called her stepfather, who visited the house with his wife and called the Sheriff's Office when things looked amiss.

The front door had burn marks on it, and when a deputy used a "mule kick" on the door, it threw out a large spark, according to an arrest affidavit. The force of the kick pulled the electrical wires attached to the device from the wall outlet.

On a counter in the home, Wilson had laid out photos of his wife's sonogram: She was pregnant with their second child. On a bed, he'd set out "'love letter' style sticky notes" and a photo album opened to a picture of him and his wife together, according to the arrest affidavit. Deputies also found a firearm that had been stolen from Wilson's stepfather's house, according to the affidavit.

Deputies contacted the estranged wife, who said her husband had a medical episode and fell to the ground several months prior and that his behavior since then had changed. He was involuntarily committed to a mental health facility under a Baker Act in November, received a diagnosis, and hadn't been back to their home since.

Over the holidays, he visited family with her, and his behavior was erratic.

Wilson is charged with two counts of attempted aggravated battery on a pregnant person and one count of grand theft of a firearm, according to a Flagler County Sheriff's Office news release.

To view previous coverage of this case, click HERE.