A 48-year-old man has been charged in Lincoln County District Court with Domestic Assault and Battery by Strangulation.
Matthew Brian Cone, no address listed, was officially charged on Jan. 21.
Court records show that Cone appeared before Associate Judge Sheila Kirk on Jan. 11 and she set a $50,000 bond with the condition Cone have no contact with the victim. Judge Kirk set the matter for Thursday, Jan. 21 before Special Judge Emily Mueller.
On Jan 21, Cone’s attorney James Hodgens represented the defendant and Judge Mueller scheduled a pre-preliminary hearing for March 4.
The felony charge accuses Cone of strangling his sister by grabbing her by the throat and choking her to the point she blacked out in an attempt to cause great harm to her.
Morgan Stewart, investigator with the District 23 Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, states in an affidavit of probable cause that the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office referred the case.
The alleged crime reportedly took place between the hours of 7:45 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Jan. 8 of this year at 104415 S. 3420 Road in Meeker.
The affidavit states that Stewart, the DA investigator, was informed by a witness that Cone had been drinking that evening.
The witness told Stewart that Cone had needed to leave the residence to go to work and that the sister had left to take Cone back to his vehicle about 7:30 p.m.
The affidavit further states that the witness met with the sister that night around 10 p.m. and that the sister was distraught, crying, visibly shaking and hyperventilating. Stewart says in the affidavit the witness stated the sister’s appearance had changed between 7:30 and 10 p.m.
The witness said the sister had red marks on her neck and throat area, two knot type injuries on her forehead and eyebrow and her lip had been split open during the reported assault.