A University of California, Riverside professor is facing life in prison after he tortured his wife of ten years by strangling her during a brutal attack, officials said.
Michael Lamar Vanderwood, 52, was convicted on Tuesday of torture, domestic violence causing great bodily injury and making criminal threats.
The conviction is believed to be the first in California, and possibly in the U.S., in which a victim was tortured by strangulation without losing consciousness or receiving broken bones, the Riverside County District Attorney’s office said.
University of California, Riverside professor Michael L. Vanderwood, 52, is facing life in prison after he tortured his wife of ten years by strangling her during a 2014 attack, officials said
On August 23, 2014, Vanderwood launched a ‘lengthy verbal attack’ on his wife after she returned home from a trip to Temecula with some girlfriends, prosecutors said.
Vanderwood, who is an associated professor at the university, yelled, cursed and threatened his wife during the verbal attack, according to officials.
She then went upstairs and turned on her smartphone’s recording device when she heard Vanderwood coming up because she was ‘scared to death,’ prosecutors said.
The recording was later used as evidence in trial and was reviewed by a forensic medical expert in strangulation.
During the attack that lasted more than 20 minutes, Vanderwood forced the victim’s face into a pillow, strangled her by alternating between one and both hands, plugged her nose and placed her in a chokehold, prosecutors said.
Vanderwood pictured while teaching above. He is listed as an associate professor and the program director for the Graduate School of Education, School Psychology Program
The victim told investigators that when Vanderwood strangled her while she was lying down, she could not breathe, felt her eyes roll into the back of her head and that everything became ‘foggy.’
She also said she became dizzy, lightheaded and suffered from blurred vision when he placed her in a chokehold.
Vanderwood also threatened to break her bones and bent her fingers back, causing what she described as ‘tortuous pain,’ prosecutors said.
The wife was able to eventually flee the home and hid outside behind a neighbor’s trash cans while Vanderwood drove the neighborhood in search of her.
Vanderwood pictured left in a Facebook photo. He is scheduled to be sentenced on December 28
She was able to contact a friend who helped her call 911 and get to a nearby hospital where she was treated for bruising and swelling to the left side of her face and eye.
Her injuries from the assault lasted nearly a month, according to prosecutors.
The victim also could not eat for a week, had difficulty swallowing and breathing, experienced severe headaches and voice changes and had trouble with her memory as a result of the strangling, officials said.
On Tuesday, it took a jury less than two hours to find Vanderwood guilty on all counts.
Vanderwood is listed as an associate professor and the program director for the Graduate School of Education, School Psychology Program on the university’s website.
Vanderwood has been at the university (shown above) since July 2001 and was placed administrative leave without pay on Wednesday
He is ‘nationally known’ for his research about the multi-tiered systems to support English learners and has been involved in developing and implementing systems to support students at risk for behavioral and academic challenges for the last 20 years, the website states.
He has been at the university since July 2001 and was placed administrative leave without pay on Wednesday, according to The Desert Sun.
Vanderwood could face termination, but there are ‘policies and practices’ in place for that process, a university spokesman told The Press Enterprise.
The spokesman said on behalf of the faculty, they ‘condemn the alleged behavior and any act of violence in the strongest terms.’
Vanderwood is scheduled to be sentenced on December 28.