A Wisconsin man was charged with the murder of his neighbor two weeks after she allegedly told police that he tried to cut off her head.
Cyril Granahan, 60, was booked into the Wood County Jail after being charged with two felonies in connection with the death of his neighbor.
The 61-year-old woman, who was not identified in media reports, died on May 8 after undergoing surgery to treat brain bleeding, according to the Wisconsin Rapids City Times, a local newspaper that obtained the criminal complaint.
The woman was hospitalized on April 25 after her caregiver discovered her in her home with blood on her shoulders.
According to the complaint, the caregiver took the woman to the hospital and told police that Granahan had threatened to cut off her head.
According to the complaint, which was also obtained by the Marshfield News-Herald, the woman told police that she and Granahan had dated intermittently since 2023. Granahan lived in the apartment below hers, and on the night of April 24, he visited her and stayed until around 1 a.m.
The woman told police that Granahan returned to her apartment at 4:15 a.m. and inquired about a cigarette case.
When she told him she didn’t know where it was, Granahan allegedly began physically assaulting her, pushing her to the ground and then stomping on her chest.
During the altercation, Granahan allegedly threatened to break the woman’s neck. According to the complaint, he also allegedly told her he was “going to cut (her) head off” before getting a “big, long steak knife.”
The woman told police that Granahan then began sawing at the back of her neck with the knife. According to the complaint, she initially informed police that the alleged attempted decapitation lasted 45 minutes.
She then told them in a second interview that it would be 10 minutes. Officials discovered a large cut in the back of her neck, as well as bruises on her face and chest. She also reportedly had a hand wound that police described as defensive.
According to the complaint, the woman’s daughter also spoke with the police, claiming that her mother once had several brain tumors, which could explain her inconsistent statements.
While the woman was in the hospital, her daughter reportedly told police that on April 29, she was rushed into surgery for a brain bleed.
She also claimed that her mother’s “health declined extremely fast.” After the surgery, the woman went into a “coma-like state” and never awoke.
She died on May 8. An autopsy determined that the preliminary cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.
Granahan, who was admitted to a psychiatric hospital following the alleged incident on April 25, was charged with first-degree reckless homicide, physical abuse of an elderly person, and misdemeanor disorderly conduct, with an increased penalty for the elderly victim.
He is currently being held at the Wood County Jail on a $250,000 cash bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on June 3.
