Hulett man sentenced on strangulation charges

Christopher Walter of Hulett has been given a deferred sentence on a felony charge of strangulation after an incident that took place last March at a motel in Hulett.

According to court reports, Hulett Police Department responded to a reported verbal dispute at the motel on March 25, 2023, that occurred at around 5:30 a.m.

During the dispute, Walter’s actions allegedly transgressed into physical and mental harm. He was accused of striking a female victim several times in the face with an open hand, leading EMS to suspect a broken jaw.

He was also accused of placing his hands around the victim’s neck, strangulating her to the point she could not breathe and feared for her life.

According to court reports, some time before the altercation occurred, Walter had taken the victim’s cell phone and placed it into a locked safe next to his bed and refused to return it to her. The victim was allegedly able to find a cell phone in the room from which she could only make emergency calls, which she used to dial 911 and cry out for help.

However, Walter allegedly knocked the phone away from her, causing it to disconnect.

When the victim attempted to leave the room, Walter allegedly restrained her by grabbing her wrist, pulling her away from the door and physically restraining her by sitting on her midsection on the floor.

At this point, the Hulett Police Chief arrived on scene and entered the room due to the occupants’ failure to acknowledge his knocking on the door and a sudden scream from inside.

According to the victim’s statements, Walter was attempting to stop her from making noise at that time by placing his hand over her nose and mouth. The victim stated that this caused her to panic and lash out as she could not breath, striking Walter in the nose, which caused him to remove his hand.

Walter pled guilty to one felony count of strangulation and misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment and interference with an emergency call.

Judge Matthew F.G. Castano gave Walter a deferred sentence on the felony count, pending successful completion of three years of supervised probation.

On the false imprisonment and interference with a 911 call charges, Walter was given a suspended sentence of 30 days of jail time, pending completion of six months of supervised probation and with credit for 14 days served, and a $100 fine for each count, to run consecutively.