Not guilty verdict for Henderson man accused of attacking, raping wife
HENDERSON, Tenn. — The verdict is in for Seth McCarty, the Henderson man accused of attacking and raping his wife while holding her hostage with a machete. The jury of 6 men and 8 women returned a not guilty verdict on Thursday afternoon. McCarty was, however, found guilty of aggravated criminal trespassing. McCarty was arrested last summer on charges of attempted murder in the first degree, aggravated kidnapping, and aggravated rape. McCarty’s wife testified on Wednesday. She said on July 2, 2013, just three weeks after she moved out of their house, her husband pushed her face down on a couch and slit the backs of her legs with a machete after making her tie her own hands with duct tape. Police say after he sexually assaulted her for several hours, she made an escape to a neighbor’s house. His wife claims while holding her hostage, he turned on the movie “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” while telling her he wanted to kill her by cutting her head off. A Walmart employee also testified they saw McCarty buy duct tape and a machete. He said during court he bought the machete to kill snakes. McCarty will be sentenced on the aggravated criminal trespassing charge on Aug. 12.
