Alzheimer's Victim Attacks Husband With Hatchet

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Alleged Hatchet Attacker Has Alzheimer's
McPeak Diagnosed A Year Ago, Husband Says

Cadiz, Ohio -- 66-year-old Dorothy McPeak is behind bars in Harrison County for allegedly attacking her husband with a hatchet Monday night. After seeing her in court Tuesday, her husband John tells NEWS 9 he can't blame his wife of 40 years for something he doesn't believe she knew she did.

Tuesday afternoon, Dorothy McPeak answered charges of attacking her husband with a hatchet, and spraying pine cleaner into the eyes of two Sheriff's deputies. But even as she heard visiting Judge John Tabacchi tell her she might face 11+ years behind bars if convicted, she stared blankly ahead and didn't respond. Her defender asked specific questions off-the-record and Dorothy didn't respond. John McPeak tells us there's a reason for this: "She's got Alzheimer's, and she doesn't even understand what she's doing," says John, "She's been getting bad for the last two weeks, and she was bad six months ago, but she came out of it."


"She's never even gotten a parking ticket," says John McPeak of his wife, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's a year ago, and whom he says has gone on a steady downhill spiral ever since. At age 68 and with seven stitches in his head from Monday night's attack, John has realized he's done all he can--he wants to move Dorothy into a nursing home as soon as possible. But now Dorothy might face a decade in jail, if she can even stand trial. Judge Tabacchi ordered a medical work-up to decide this, but John says he's done. He loves his wife, but he can't help anymore. "I just can't keep her at home. This [indicating head wound] is once, and that's enough."