Jury trial begins for Casco Twp. man accused of trying to kill wife
A jury trial for a Casco Township man accused of attempting to kill his wife began Tuesday.
Jury selection in the case of Gregory Ringel, 59, was completed by 11:40 a.m., with the attorneys settling on a jury of 10 women and four men.
Ringel could face up to life in prison if a jury finds him guilty of attempting to kill his wife in 2022.
The Casco Township man was arrested on April 8 of that year, 11 days after he reportedly broke into his own house while posing as a burglar.
The victim initially reported she woke up after hearing an intruder knock over a steel tumbler. When she got up to check the noise she encountered the suspect, later identified as Ringel, holding a shotgun.
After the intruder fired and missed, the victim said she shut the door on the gun barrel, preventing him from entering or aiming the gun.
Ringel told St. Clair County Sheriff's Office deputies he woke up in another room and grabbed a handgun. He claimed to have seen the victim's shadow and fired at him while the suspect fled.
The sheriff's office investigated the incident, but noted no cars were seen fleeing the scene despite deputies arriving to the residence quickly.
During the following investigation, however, Ringel reportedly confessed he had been the intruder. He admitted to firing the shotgun. The sheriff's office said after his arrest that Ringel fired his handgun in the house to cover up the crime.
Ringel was charged with assault with intent to murder, punishable with up to life in prison. He has also been charged with discharging a firearm in a building, punishable with up to 10 years in prison; tampering with evidence, up to 10 years; false report of a felony, up to 4 years; and two counts of felony firearm use, up to 2 years each.
Ringel was offered a plea deal in June which would have required him to plead guilty to assault with intent to murder in exchange for the other five charges being dropped. He rejected the deal, electing to take his case to trial.
During jury selection defense attorney Joshua Rubin indicated he would argue Ringel's actions were not the result of criminal intent, but of psychosis induced by steroids in his medication, and that he would call expert witnesses.
St. Clair County Senior Assistant Prosecutor Joshua Sparling told jurors the defense's argument would shift the burden of proof from the prosecution to the defense since Rubin would not be denying Ringel shot at the victim.
Contact Johnathan Hogan at jhogan@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Jury trial begins for Casco Twp. man accused of trying to kill wife
