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Washington Mom's Muffled Screams Can Be Heard In 911 Call Before Husband Allegedly Tried To Bury Her Alive
Chae An pleaded not guilty to attempted first-degree murder and first-degree domestic violence kidnapping in court, where a 911 call made by his estranged wife was played, Tuesday morning.
A Washington mother’s muffled screams can be heard on a harrowing 911 call she made before she was allegedly buried alive by her estranged husband.
Young An used her Apple Watch to call 911 and send a distress message to key contacts in her phone on Oct. 16, after she told police her estranged husband Chae An had attacked her in her bedroom during an argument about money and the couple’s impending divorce, according to a probable cause statement obtained by Oxygen.com.
Chae is accused of using duct tape to tie his wife’s hands behind her back and put tape on her mouth, eyes, thighs and ankles, but when he momentarily left the room, Young seized the opportunity to call 911 with her Apple Watch.
Although she was unable to talk, Young’s anguished screams can be heard on the recording obtained by Fox News.
RELATED: Washington Woman Allegedly Escaped After Being Buried Alive In Woods By Estranged Husband
The 911 dispatcher is unable to understand her and repeatedly asks “hello” and “what’s going on there?” before deducing that she needed help and telling her, “OK, I’m going to get help started to you, hold on for me for just a second.”
The dispatcher asked whether she was at her home address and Young appeared to be able to respond affirmingly before she continued to scream for help through the tape as random buttons are pressed on the line.
“I’m going to stay on the line with you,” the dispatcher assured her during the 7-minute call.
A male voice can be heard near the end of the tape before Young goes silent. She’d later tell police that Chae had returned to the bedroom and dragged her down the hallway, down the stairs and into the garage. When he discovered the Apple Watch, he allegedly “struck it with a hammer and then struck her wrists,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
However, the watch remained connected to the 911 dispatcher. Toward the end of the recording, Lacey Police officers can be heard arriving at the home.
"The dispatch was an ‘unknown trouble call,’" Sgt. Shannon Barnes told Fox News Wednesday. "So he had no information about anything he was walking into."
By that time, however, authorities said that Chae had already loaded his wife into the van and driven away. In surveillance footage from a neighbor’s security system obtained by Fox News, a male can be seen exiting the home, getting into a van parked on the driveway and pulling into the garage before pulling out minutes later and driving off.
Young told police her husband then drove her to a wooded area, where he stabbed her in the breasts with a “sharp object” and tried to bury her alive, according to court documents.
“Young said after being put in the ground she could hear her husband walking around the hole and dirt being put on top of her,” the probable cause statement alleges.
After it got dark, Young was eventually able to dig herself out and flee while her husband was nearby in the van. She ran to a house, where the resident called 911.
When a Thurston County Sheriff’s deputy arrived at the scene, authorities said Young sprang out from behind a shed where she had been hiding and told the deputy, “My husband is trying to kill me.”
She still had duct tape wrapped around her neck, face and ankles and was covered in dirt and bruises, authorities said.
She was taken to a local hospital while authorities searched for her husband, who was taken into custody after deputies found him in the vehicle near the trail.
Chae pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday to the charges of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree domestic violence kidnapping and first-degree domestic violence assault against him, The New York Post reports.
