Azure admits to assaulting partner with knife

In Polson District Court Oct 18, a Ronan man admitted to assaulting his wife of 10 years. Marcus John Azure, 34, entered a plea of guilty to assault with a weapon.

The plea was entered as part of a plea agreement that dismisses felony charges of strangulation of a partner or family member and criminal endangerment. Prosecutor Lori Adams with the Lake County Attorney’s Office says the plea agreement calls for a joint recommendation of 15 years in the Montana State Prison, none suspended.

The agreement also recommends an additional five years for violating terms of a separate strangulation conviction from 2019. The state agreed to withdraw its notice to pursue Azure as a persistent felony offender.

According to charging documents, on March 21, Lake County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of an assault on a woman and her child. The alleged victim told responding deputies that Azure woke up, was agitated, and told her to get out.

She said Azure began throwing things around the house and throwing her belongings outside. She also told officers that Azure pushed her back onto a bed, straddled her with his legs and began strangling her. She said he also put a knife in her mouth and threatened to kill her in front of their 2-year-old child. She says she bit down on the knife to prevent it from being pushed farther into her mouth.

Azure eventually let her up and she took off with the child. She said that Azure chased them down and punched her body and face, and then tried to drag her back inside the house by her hair. Azure wrestled the child away from her and she escaped to a neighbor's house.

When questioned by deputies, the neighbor indicated the alleged victim burst into her house and said her husband was trying to kill her. The neighbor also said the alleged victim was scared and had “bruises all over her.”

Judge Molly Owen set a sentencing date of Dec. 6. Azure remains in the Lake County Jail with a bond totaling $150,000.