Former Tecumseh man faces attempted murder charge in Connecticut

The quick thinking of a Tecumseh Police Department dispatcher may have helped save the life of a woman who once lived in the city and had been stabbed in another state. On Monday, Dispatcher Monica Andrews received a call from the Lenawee County Sheriff Department regarding two 911 hang-up calls on Union Street. She sent two cars and they found that no one was home. Soon, police determined that a woman who currently lives there was at work.
Andrews said the calls came from a woman who was screaming and could not speak English so no one could understand her. When a neighbor reported that an Asian woman used to live at the Union Street address a few years ago, Andrews decided to check further on the situation. She said the further research, using Google and a law enforcement network, identified that the former resident was living at an address in Connecticut. She realized that the cell phone’s 911 system may have still been connected to the Lenawee County area, where the woman originally purchased her phone.

“Then I Googled the police department for that area and gave them the address and phone number, and when they went to that address, they found the woman and she had been stabbed,” Andrews said. “She was in a pool of blood at the top of the stairs but she was still alive.”

A news article in the New Haven Register reported that Jeffrey Asbill, 48, has been charged with attempted murder in Ledyard, Connecticut. The Connecticut State Police found him over the woman that the article said was his wife, and also charged him with first-degree assault. He was ordered held in lieu of $500,000 bail pending arraignment in New London Superior Court in that state.

The woman, whose name was not released, was taken to The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich, Connecticut, where she was treated for a stab wound to her upper chest area, a punctured lung and lacerations to her left hand, according to police reports as reported in the New Haven Register.

The victim told police detectives that Asbill had lost his job at Pfizer and was treated in the past for mental health issues. Police reports note that Asbill was convinced he would not be able to provide for his family.

Police also said that Asbill appeared dazed and was not responding to officers when he was arrested at the scene of the crime. He has since made a confession, admitting to the stabbing, and the case was transferred to a New London court with an appearance scheduled for Dec. 2.

Dispatcher Andrews said she hasn’t told a lot of people about her role in the incident — however, her quick thinking and use of the tools available to her may have helped save the woman’s life.