Man arrested for attempted murder, kidnapping charges

A Pahrump man was arrested over the weekend and charged with various preliminary counts, including attempted murder, after he allegedly took his ex-wife to the desert, beating her and making her plead for her life.

Andrew J. Holmgren was taken into custody Sunday by the Nye County Sheriff’s Office on preliminary counts of attempted murder, kidnapping, domestic battery and preventing the reporting of a crime, after the alleged desert incident.

An NCSO deputy was called to Desert View Hospital Saturday night for a domestic battery not-in-progress report.

After arriving at DVH, the deputy was directed to the victim, who was brought into the hospital by her friend. The victim’s face was swollen and completely purple on the left side, according to the arrest report.

The victim was in a hospital gown and the deputy saw dried blood around her face and arms and the victim also showed the deputy thinned out areas of her scalp where Holmgren allegedly pulled out portions of her hair, police said.

The victim told the deputy that her ex-husband, Holmgren, had kept her confined to her home and threatened to kill her.

The victim said that Holmgren contacted her on Friday and asked her to help him take care of a stray dog he found. The victim allowed Holmgren to come over to her residence and said she’d help him take the stray dog to the vet, police said.

Once she began driving to the vet, Holmgren allegedly ordered her to drive out to the desert because he was going to kill her, the arrest report said.

The victim followed Holmgren’s orders, but at one point attempted to bail out of the vehicle. Holmgren grabbed her by her hair, at which time chunks of hair were pulled out, and began punching her in the face, according to the NCSO.

During the drive out to the desert, the victim said that Holmgren kept repeating threatening phrases including, “I’m going to kill you,” and “God gave me permission to kill you,” among others, the arrest report stated.

Once they arrived at a desert area, Holmgren allegedly lunged at the victim and shoved his knee deep into her ribs and covered her nose and mouth for about 30 to 45 seconds, until the victim began to feel dizzy, according to the sheriff’s office. The victim said he stopped short of her losing consciousness.

The victim told the sheriff’s office that he told her to start praying while he decided if he was going to kill her or not.

After several hours Holmgren told the victim that it was her lucky day and that he was not going to kill her, the arrest report said.

The victim said that Holmgren drove them back to her residence and “watched her every move,” not allowing her to use the phone or go near the door, police said. Holmgren also allegedly questioned the victim every time she moved anywhere in the house.

On Saturday, Holmgren allegedly told the victim that he wanted to go get his motorcycle and she agreed to take him to pick it up. Holmgren allegedly told the victim not to contact the police during their trip or he would kill her.

After she dropped off Holmgren to get his motorcycle, the victim drove herself to her friend’s house in order to go get medical attention. The victim’s friend immediately took her to the hospital, the arrest report said.

During the conversation with the sheriff’s deputy, the victim kept repeating, “I didn’t call you, I didn’t call you. It wasn’t me, you know that, right,” the arrest report stated.

The deputy also said he received a call from her employer who said the victim called in to work for that day and that she assumed it was because of Holmgren. The victim’s employer also stated she “couldn’t stand seeing her like this anymore,” and requested to fill out a statement on her witness to the victim’s constant bruises, fear and threats from Holmgren, police said.

After trying to locate Holmgren, the sheriff’s office said that he came into their front office asking about why they were looking for him.

Holmgren was then arrested and charged with the four preliminary counts and booked into the Nye County Detention Center, where he’s being held without bail.

Contact reporter Mick Akers at makers@pvtimes.com. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.