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Aug 18, 2023

Man put woman in bathtub with electric dog collar, beat her with hammer: court records

by: Melissa Moon Posted: Aug 4, 2023 / 05:25 AM EDT Updated: Aug 4, 2023 / 05:25 AM EDT MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A Hardeman County, Tenn. man already facing domestic assault charges is accused of

by: Melissa Moon

Posted: Aug 4, 2023 / 05:25 AM EDT

Updated: Aug 4, 2023 / 05:25 AM EDT

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — A Hardeman County, Tenn. man already facing domestic assault charges is accused of attacking the alleged victim again while they were in court Tuesday.

Authorities said Jeffery Hart, 51, slammed the woman into a concrete wall inside the Hardeman County Criminal Justice Complex and left behind a golf-sized knot on her head.

The alleged victim told authorities that it was far from the first time she’d experienced abuse.

She told Hardeman County Sheriff’s deputies that Hart previously put her in a bathtub of water with an electric dog collar and threatened to kill her if she did not drop the charges against him.

Investigators said the woman had numerous cuts and bruises on her body. She said Hart hit her with a hammer and flashlight, punched her in the eye, cut her ear and hand with a knife, and threatened her life with a shotgun he keeps beside his bed.

The victim said she was not free to leave her home, and is Hart’s “property,” according to court records. She said on the way to court, Hart reset her phone and took out the SIM card in an attempt to destroy the photos she took of her injuries.

She told investigators she had to have sex with Hart or he would hurt her.

Hart is charged with aggravated domestic assault, aggravated kidnapping, trafficking a person for sexual servitude, tampering with or fabricating evidence, and coercion of a witness.

He will be back in court on August 15.

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