CHICORA — A charge of attempted murder was added during a Tuesday, Oct. 17, preliminary hearing for a man accused of raping and strangling a woman in Summit Township in July.

Thomas L. Shuler, 37, of Summit Township, was on house arrest at the time of the alleged assault. He appeared in court before District Judge Lewis Stoughton regarding charges of felonies rape, aggravated assault and strangulation and misdemeanors simple assault and terroristic threats.

The initial charges were filed by state police July 31, and Shuler was arrested a day later. He was placed in Butler County Prison in lieu of $250,000 bail.

Following Tuesday’s hearing, Stoughton increased the bail to $750,000.

David Beichner, assistant district attorney, called the woman as the only witness for the prosecution.

The woman testified that she, Shuler and a few others were eating dinner at a Summit Township residence July 28, and during the meal, Shuler detailed different ways he wanted to harm people and talked about “torturing people until they died.”

The woman said that later in the evening she was alone with Shuler in the home, and he went outside to his truck and removed a gun and put it inside a shed.

“I asked him why he moved the gun; he didn’t respond,” she said.

She added that when she asked this question, Shuler’s eyes were “dark.” He then approached her.

“It was kind of like a dancing game,” she said. “He said he was going to kill me. He said it was my last night on this earth, that my children would grow up with no mother, and that he would make it slow and painful.”

The woman said Shuler then grabbed her head and slammed it off the wall and shelves in the kitchen. She said he then shoved her into the kitchen table.

“He just kept repeating he was going to kill me,” she said.

She testified that Shuler then grabbed her head and threw her on the couch, removing pieces of her hair. He then took her by the legs and threw her onto the floor, where she landed on her elbows.

“He twisted my left ankle and leg and said, ‘Do you know how it feels to have a snapped leg?’” she said.

The woman said she then rolled from Shuler’s grip, but he kicked her in the ribs several times, keeping her on the ground.

“I stood up; he put me back on the ground and put his hands around my neck,” she said. “He looked me in the eyes and told me he was going to kill me ...The only thing that I could think was, ‘This is it.’”

She said she blacked out. When she awoke, the woman said she jumped up and was slipping in her own blood as she ran to the front door while Shuler grabbed her shirt.

The woman testified that she made it to the front yard and yelled for help, but Shuler tackled her. “I thought If I made it outside, I was fine,” she said.

She said Shuler placed her in a headlock and told her to stop yelling.

At this point, Michael Zunder, defense attorney, objected to how Beichner was formatting the questions. Stoughton requested that Beichner be careful in his phrasing during the rest of direct questioning.

The woman continued, saying the two returned inside and that Shuler wanted to see if “she lost any of her teeth.” She then said Shuler asked her to shower so he could see where she was still bleeding.

The woman testified that she was raped in the shower and again in the bedroom.

“I was afraid to say no; it was a do-or-die situation,” she said.

She said she was bleeding from her nose, which was broken and cut.

She said she eventually left the home and went to the hospital. When her injuries were evaluated, she said her left eye was swollen shut, her lips were cut open, and there were bruises on her neck, shins, face, arms, chest, stomach and back. Photographs documenting the injuries were presented in the courtroom.

During cross examination, Zunder asked if there were security cameras in the home that captured the assault, and the woman testified that there was footage from the living room camera that captured some of it.

She said that when Shuler initially left the house and placed the gun in the shed, she pressed record on the camera. Later, she testified that the camera did not pick up the entire assault, and she did not know why.

When asked why she returned to the house with Shuler following the assault, the woman said it was out of fear.

Zunder then asked if she had a rape test done at the hospital, and the woman said she did not.

At the conclusion of questioning, Beichner asked that charges be added to the criminal complaint, including an additional count of rape, indecent assault, simple assault and criminal attempt of murder in the first degree. Zunder objected to the additions on the grounds that it was inappropriate to add charges that could not be cross-examined.

“If they’re inclined to do that, I want to schedule a new hearing,” he said. “You can’t amend a complaint at the end of a preliminary hearing without giving defense the ability to cross-examine.”

Stoughton said he would allow the murder attempt charge, and then allowed Zunder to cross examine the woman in regard to the charge.

Zunder then asked the woman to estimate how long the assault took place. She said it began shortly after 8 or 9 p.m. and continued into the early hours of the next morning.

Stoughton held the charges over for county Common Pleas Court, and then Beichner asked to discuss Shuler’s bond.

“The commonwealth’s concern in the case is two-fold. One, there are prior incidents, at least two that I’m aware of. The other is that when this happened, the defendant was on electronic monitoring,” he said.

Stougton said he had similar concerns after hearing the woman’s testimony and was considering denying bail.

Zunder argued the bond was already inaccessible to his client.

“He’s not making bond no matter what,” he said. “If he had the means to make his bond, he wouldn't be sitting here in reds.”

Stoughton decided to raise Shuler’s bail to $750,000. He remains in Butler County Prison.