Husband Accused Of Orchestrating Assaults On Wife

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (CBS13) -- Police have arrested a man for allegedly concocting and executing a series of brutal assaults on his wife that were intended to frame an ex-girlfriend for the crime as part of a plan to regain custody of his child.

The Fairfield Police Department said the first of the attacks came on May 15, when the female victim claimed that 35-year-old Jose Romero's ex-girlfriend, a 19-year-old woman, attacked her on a trail in Fairfield and cut her ponytail off.

On May 24, the same victim said she was stabbed at a local park by a male subject who inflicted a serious laceration on her abdomen, requiring treatment at Vaca Valley Hospital.

The incidents escalated dramatically when the victim said two unknown males sliced her repeatedly in the arms, abdomen and shoulders on August 4 on a Fairfield trail, but despite an extensive search by officers, no suspects were located.

On August 11, the victim suffered two severe lacerations to the back and told authorities that two unknown men had accosted and attacked her, but after an extensive interview with investigators, admitted that Romero and his friend had carried out the attacks themselves in hopes of implicating Romero's ex-girlfriend for assault.

The woman further admitted that all of the previous attacks had been part of the same alleged conspiracy.

Romero was arrested on charges of torture, mayhem, assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy, among other charges, and is being held on $1 million bail.

The victim is being treated at a hospital for serious injuries and is in protective custody.