St. Clair Shores man who kidnapped estranged wife, stabbed man sentenced

The St. Clair Shores man who kidnapped his estranged wife and held her for hours in an Ohio hotel room after placing a tracking device on her vehicle last spring has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

“There was a whole course of conduct that led to this point,” Assistant Prosecutor Cailin Wilson said Friday. “It began, truly, as a stalking. The defendant had placed a tracking device on his wife’s car, he had binoculars and had been following her around, watching her movements.”

Gabriel Charles Wagner broke down in tears speaking before St. Clair County Circuit Judge Dan Damman. The 52-year-old said he loved his wife and “never meant to go out and hurt anyone, including” a man he also assaulted before reportedly forcing his wife into a vehicle nearby.

“I’m sorry for both of them,” he said. “… I’m going to live with that in my mind for the rest of my life. I wish there was something I could do.”

Shortly before 2:30 a.m. on June 1, Wagner stabbed a then-47-year-old man who tried to help in the neck in a driveway on Point Drive in East China Township, prosecutors said. At the time, the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department reported the man had dialed 911.

Wilson said Wagner’s wife was also “injured in multiple ways” and sexually assaulted while she was held captive until close to 9:30 p.m. that day when he was apprehended in Ohio.

Wagner had faced nine counts of criminal sexual conduct, assault, and other felony charges before several counts were dropped in February when he pleaded no contest to unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder, aggravated domestic violence, and third-degree criminal sexual conduct in a deal with prosecutors. A no-contest plea is not a formal admission of guilt but is treated as a conviction for sentencing purposes.

On Friday, Damman sentenced him to seven to 15 years for the imprisonment and sexual assault charges, 57 months to 10 years for the assault charge, and 296 days for the domestic violence charge.

The sentences were to be served concurrently with credit for 296 days already served.

Wagner was also ordered to pay $4,300 in restitution to his wife and $44,810 to the man and to refrain from contacting either.

Wilson highlighted the seriousness of Wagner's crimes — not just during the roughly 19 hours he held his wife captive but also leading up to the incident.

Additionally, Wilson said Wagner refused to allow his wife to visit the restroom or seek medical attention for her injuries, forcing her to wear a hoodie to cover them.

Wagner’s wife, in a statement read by Wilson, asked Damman to “find and give as much mercy” as possible in sentencing.

“Please, your honor, I’m fine,” Wilson said, quoting the wife. In writing, she acknowledged the “terrible chain of events” but said she didn’t believe Wagner intended to do harm.

“I have tried many numerous times to have the sex crimes withdrawn …” she wrote. “He is a good person and a very hard worker. He just doesn’t know how to deal with emotions sometimes and needs help to do that.”

Meanwhile, the man Wagner stabbed asked for a more serious sentence. He recalled suffering a stroke and his hospitalization following his assault and said he’s been unable to work since.

“I do feel that this was intentional (because) he did get out of the vehicle with a weapon,” the man said of Wagner. “My life has been absolutely destroyed. And the things I have to remember — laying in a pool of blood in a parking lot for the rest of my life visualizing that.”

William Barnwell, Wagner’s attorney, told Damman that Wagner felt “a tremendous amount of shame” for his crimes and emphasized that up until June 1 of last year, he’d led a lawful life.

However, Damman questioned Wagner’s overall actions and his future impact on the public.

“The only reason we’re not talking about a murder charge is a couple of millimeters,” he said, referring to the man's stabbing injuries.

“At any point … Mr. Wagner could have simply stopped,” the judge said.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: St. Clair Shores man who kidnapped estranged wife, stabbed man sentenced