Trial to begin for 2008 hammer attack

The trial of a former Camp Lejeune Marine corporal accused of beating his pregnant wife nearly to death with a hammer last year is set to begin this week.

Jonathan Matthew Gould, 24, was indicted by an Onslow County grand jury in May on charges of attempted first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury in the near death of Erin Marie Gould, who lost her unborn child.

Jury selection is expected to begin Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning depending on court scheduling, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Senior Assistant District Attorney Mike Maultsby is prosecuting the case for the state. Gould is represented by Jacksonville lawyer William J. Morgan.

Jonathan Gould originally told authorities he was attacked and knocked unconscious upon arriving home from his second job at the Orleans House on Dec. 20. He awoke to find his seriously injured wife laying on their couch and a bloody hammer on the floor.

However, Sheriff Ed Brown said Gould later confessed to beating his wife with the hammer.

Brown said Gould stabbed himself several times with a small paring knife in an attempt to make the information he gave law enforcement match the evidence at the scene. Gould had cuts on his ears, chest and leg.

He received an "administrative separation for commission of a serious offense" in March, base officials told The Daily News at the time.

Contact Lindell Kay at 910-219-8456. Read his blog here.