Paul Bashi is accused of attacking his girlfriend inside his rental home in Washington Township in July. If convicted of attempted murder, he could face life in prison, media reports say. (Fox2Detroit)
A disturbing and graphic video appearing to show a hulking bodybuilder pummel his girlfriend surfaced Wednesday as the man remains jailed in Michigan after what attorneys are calling a “roid rage” attack.
The footage, obtained by Fox2Detroit, shows 35-year-old Paul Bashi punching, kicking and throwing lit candles at 22-year-old Kristina Perry inside his rental home in Washington Township in late July. At one point in the video, his arm is covered in blood as he heaves a canister at Perry, who is pressed up against a wall and a couch.
“Time and time and time again this defendant beat her as she lay motionless on the ground,” Assistant Macomb County Prosecutor Jordan Fields told a court Monday, according to the Macomb Daily. “How she did not die, I have no idea. She should have died that day, judge.”
Bashi is currently in Macomb County Jail on a $5 million bond and is facing one count of assault with intent to murder and one count of controlled substance with intent to deliver/manufacture. Investigators that responded to the home after the attack were reported to have found cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine, ecstasy and a substance that contains human growth hormone.
“The defendant at that time was using great quantities of steroids preparing for a national body-building competition,” his attorney, David Griem, said during the court hearing Monday, according to the Macomb Daily. “I believe that what happened that day was something that’s referred to as ‘roid rage,’ short for steroid rage.”
County prosecutors say Perry was kicked more than 100 times and was stabbed repeatedly during the 40-minute assault. Bashi was arrested after neighbors found Perry on the home’s front porch.
Perry has recovered after being in a coma for days – but then appeared this week at the hearing to ask for the charges against Bashi to be dropped.
"She told the judge she wanted the defendant out of jail, and told the judge that it was her fault this happened," Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith told Fox2Detroit.
The judge handling the case reportedly referred the matter to Macomb County Community Corrections and asked the agency to investigate further.
Smith though said defendants often put “pressure on the victim to dismiss the charges."
"Our office handles about 2,500 domestic violence cases a year," he said in an interview with Fox2Detroit. "Of those cases 60 percent of the victims either recant their story or don't show up to the court at all."
"If you see someone going through this and you think someone is going through this, even though they say they are not -- they are afraid to come forward," he added. "You have got to step in and help."
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