A 58-year-old Williamsburg woman will face a grand jury over a felonious wounding charge filed against her after she allegedly used a knife to attack a man at the Country Hearth Inn on Capitol Landing Road in May.
The case against Sandra Holder Reece was certified to the grand jury by Williamsburg-James City County District Court Judge Colleen Killilea, who heard testimony Thursday from the man Reece allegedly stabbed.
The man testified Thursday he used to be close friends with Reece, who lived at the hotel in a room a few doors down from his. He said she knocked on his door at about 11:30 p.m. May 1 and began asking, “Why do you keep hurting me?” before taking out what police at the time described as a small kitchen knife and stabbing him four times.
The man said Reece stabbed him twice in a bicep, once in the lower chest and once on a lower forearm. A neighbor restrained Reece, grabbing her by the wrist and causing her to drop the knife, the man said. He said Reece returned to her room and he called police.
During cross-examination by Reece’s attorney, Gordon Klugh, the man said he and Reece liked to drink together.
Klugh questioned the man about a court order saying the man and Reece were not to have contact due to an aggravated assault charge filed against him, which the man acknowledged, noting the charge was dropped. When asked by Klugh if he had been peeking in Reece’s room while smoking outside with friends, the man said he had not.
The man also testified during cross-examination that Reece said “we need to talk” after knocking on his door. He said he has never “put hands on her” or threatened her.
After the man testified, Klugh told Killilea the man has crimes in his past that potentially impeach him as a witness while also noting a potential high alcohol content in the man’s bloodstream due to two 16 oz. bottles of Steel Reserve the man said he consumed on the day of the alleged attack.
“But if the court believes what he says, there’s no doubt there’s [enough evidence to advance the case to a grand jury],” he said.
The purpose of Thursday’s hearing was to determine if enough evidence exists to forward the case to a grand jury. The next grand jury, which will consider evidence against Reece before deciding whether to indict her, convenes Sept. 17. If an indictment is presented, she will be tried in Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court.
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