Attempted homicide charge dropped for lack of evidence

The case of a Poplar man accused of trying to strangle his girlfriend ended with a guilty plea to a single charge of misdemeanor battery in Douglas County Court Monday.

Charges of first-degree attempted intentional homicide and misdemeanor disorderly conduct against John Raymond Lundberg, 40, were dismissed due to lack of evidence.

He was sentenced to 18 months probation with the conditions of nine days jail, a $200 fine and a $75 domestic abuse surcharge. He was also ordered to undergo a chemical dependency evaluation.

Public Defender Fredric Anderson, who represented Lundberg, told Judge George Glonek he felt the charges were grossly overcharged from the beginning, something he stressed at the preliminary hearing March 7.

"The charge here is attempted first-degree intentional homicide," Anderson told Court Commissioner Paul Baxter. "I don't know if I've ever seen such a stretch in Douglas County."

The victim, Julie Erickson, testified at the preliminary hearing that Lundberg had been steadily drinking through the night and was not acting like himself during the altercation the morning of Feb. 27. What started with Lundberg's displeasure over the victim eating cereal in the living room escalated to pushing and pulling in a bedroom, she said.

During a hall confrontation, Erickson testified, Lundberg yelled that he was going to kill her, knocked her down and reached for her neck. But he barely touched her before her 13-year-old son threw a lava lamp at him, she said. Lundberg turned to chase the boy.

"I ran into the bathroom and he had ran after me and was trying to get the door open," Erickson said. "I was trying to keep it shut."

At that point, she said, her son stabbed Lundberg with a butter knife and said "you're not going to hurt my mom anymore."

Anderson told Baxter the state would have to prove unequivocally to a jury that Lundberg intended to commit a homicide.

"Other than one sentence of 'I'm going to kill you,' you know, that's it," Anderson said. "And obviously that's not even ballpark close to enough."