Man accused of holding girlfriend prisoner for year

SUPERIOR, Wis. — A Superior man accused of holding his girlfriend as a virtual prisoner for more than a year before breaking her jaw appeared Monday in Douglas County Circuit Court.

Anthony J. Machones, 23, also threatened to shoot the woman’s father, according to the criminal complaint. Machones faces felony charges of false imprisonment, threats to injure and substantial battery and a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. A second status conference was scheduled for March 29.

“There is definately a chance of resolving the case at the end of March,” Douglas County District Attorney Daniel Blank said after Monday’s status conference.

According to the complaint, the woman moved in with Machones after she left high school. The woman’s father told investigators that while living with Machones, she wasn’t allowed to drive, go to school, get a job, go anywhere or use the phone unless Machones was listening. After her parents tried dropping off clothes for her, Machones threatened to shoot the woman’s father, the complaint said.

Machones has denied holding the woman against her will, telling investigators that he asked her numerous times to leave because of his violent temper. According to the complaint, Machones “said that he frequently gets upset to the point where he can’t control his anger. … The defendant admitted to slapping or punching” the woman while living together.

On Dec. 8, the woman called her father to say that she was escaping and begged him to pick her up at a nearby convenience store. He took her to St. Luke’s Hospital, where emergency room workers found her suffering from a broken jaw, numerous bruises and a human bite mark. She required two operations.

While she was in surgery her parents reported her injuries to police.

“In this case parents trusted their instincts very well in trying to stay in touch with a daughter who was apparently distancing herself, and maybe not on her own,” Blank said. “The parents’ persistence of not letting go the relationship with a daughter that seemed to just want to go in her own direction sort of helped break the case.”

Machones is free on $10,000 cash bail with the conditions that he has no contact with the victim, her parents or their residence, no possession of a controlled substance and no possession of firearms or dangerous weapons. His attorney did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.

Steve Kuchera is a reporter at the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.

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