Lower Providence Man Fractured Wife's Skull, Used Dog Shock Collars On His Children: Cops

LOWER PROVIDENCE, PA — A Lower Providence man has been arrested after allegedly beating his wife and fracturing her skull and using dog shock collars on his children, according to authorities. Police said this was in addition to a wide variety of other horrific abuses over a period of years.

The two children of Joseph Myhre, 44, described a hellish life which routinely involved chokings, beatings and sticking lancets under their fingernails, according to a criminal complaint.

Authorities first caught on to Myhre when he was arrested for assaulting his wife on March 15. The complaint states that earlier that day, Myhre pinned her to the floor of their home and repeatedly punched her in the back of the head. When Myhre fell asleep she was able to drive herself to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a fractured skull.

She later told police that Myhre had been abusing her and their two young children, aged 13 and 11, for the past six years, according to the criminal complaint.

One of the more frequent abuses echoed by the mother and her children involved Myhre standing on the stomach of one of the children and jumping up and down, police said. He would also kick them in the stomach.

Another abuse involved hitting their heads with a wooden stick or PVC pipe, often causing them to see stars or go to "dream land," according to the criminal complaint.

On other occasions, he would strap the dog shock collar to their neck or around their stomach, the complaint states. The collars had a setting of 1 to 100, and when Myhre would turn the setting to 100 it would cause them to lose all feeling in their legs. According to the criminal complaint, while the children would be screaming in pain, their father would be standing around "acting completely normal."

During an interview with police on April 6, Myhre admitted to placing vice grips on his children's arms as an explanation for their bruises but said he was only playing around and didn't do it to hurt them, the complaint states.

Police have a cell phone recording that includes the children screaming in pain as Myhre speaks. They also found PVC pipe and dog shock collars at Myhre's home, even though he's never owned a dog, police said.

He was arraigned on Friday and charged with aggravated assault, strangulation and related counts.

Bail was set at $1 million, and he was remanded to Montgomery County Correctional Facility. In addition, he has been ordered to have no contact with the victims and to surrender his passport.

A preliminary hearing has been set for 10:30 a.m. on April 19 before Judge Cathleen Rebar.

Image courtesy Montgomery County District Attorney's Office