In the presence of his five-year-old daughter, an Arkansas father sawed off his own leg while raving that he was both Jesus Christ and Satan and threatening to twist off his wife’s head.
Sandy Cox, who fled the house in panic but left their small daughter with her father, who then amputated his leg, and Shannon Cox, 48, were both charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
According to an affidavit documenting the event that happened on August 2 in Boone County, when officers arrived they saw Cox “laying in front of the home nude and missing a piece of his right leg.”
When the deputy entered the house after Shannon said he had cut his leg with a chop saw, he saw blood all over the walls and floor and the limb “in position still resting on the saw.”
He used a chop saw, often used for chopping wood, of the RIDGID brand to lop off the limb.
A white four-door sedan with the hood up, a 20-pound propane cylinder resting on top of the battery, and Shannon Cox’s Arkansas driver’s licence were among the other hazardous items discovered by the investigators inside the home.
The investigator also reported that “the rear passenger window was smashed out” and that “there were ashes inside the car.”
Once Shannon had been taken to Cox Medical Center South in Springfield, Missouri, the police found Sandy and wanted to speak with her the following day.
She said that on the day of the event, her husband had been “acting strangely all day long,” identified himself as Jesus Christ, and told Sandy that she “ought to be right with the Lord.”
Sandy informed the police. She was then confronted by Shannon, who became more hostile and accused him of being Satan before threatening to “twist her head off.”
She was forced to leave the house because of his repeated verbal threats because she was afraid her husband would murder her.
She left Shannon, who was insane, and their unnamed five-year-old daughter inside the home. She said to police interviewers that she “wasn’t concerned about her daughter” when prompted.
Using a chop saw from the RIDGID brand, which is often used to cut wood, he was able to lop off the limb.
When the daughter was questioned by the authorities after the event, she said she was “there” when her father sawed off his own leg.
The child was still in “some state of shock,” according to the affidavit, and “would keep attempting to deflect away from the subject.”
Authorities stated that the girl is presently in the custody of the Arkansas court system and is no longer living with her parents.
The married pair posted their respective $10,000 bail and were both freed; they will both appear in court in October.
Shannon has not yet been charged with a crime, but it is unknown if he has ever been accused of domestic abuse or faced a misdemeanour penalty.