A Flathead County man will spend the next two years in prison after he threatened to kill his wife and then cut her with a knife in February.
Ronald Gayle Eskildsen was sentenced to 10 years with the Department of Corrections with eight years suspended after he was found guilty of felony assault with a weapon stemming from a February altercation with his wife.
“I want to apologize to my wife and anyone else caught up in this mess,” Eskildsen said moments before he was sentenced in Flathead County District Court on July 17. “When I’m released I plan on moving out of state. I’ll never bother her again.”
On Feb. 27, Gereldean Eskildsen called police to report that her husband had cut her with a knife. She told police that moments before Eskildsen grabbed the knife he said he had wanted to kill her. Officers found the wife at Ridgewood Drive home with a deep cut on her arm.
On Feb. 28, he was charged with felony assault with a weapon. In March, Eskildsen entered a plea of alford. An alford plea is filed when a defendant believes that they are innocent but knows the prosecution has enough evidence to find them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Eskildsen will also be required to pay restitution of $1,617.