Guantanamo Bay Marine Beats Parents Bloody

Burlington Free Press | December 22 2004

A U.S. Marine pleaded not guilty to assault charges Monday after prosecutors said he beat his parents over the weekend in Colchester.

Charles W. Blount, 31, was released on conditions, including that he not make contact with his family and that he undergo a psychiatric evaluation. He is charged with one count of aggravated assault and one charge of simple assault. Court papers indicate Blount has no prior criminal record in Vermont.

When Colchester police arrived at the Blount home after a 911 call just before midnight Friday, they saw through a window that Blount was assaulting his bloodied mother, according to court papers. Police kicked in the door and subdued Blount after a brief struggle.

The inside of the house was strewn with broken furniture and blood was spattered on the walls of the kitchen, hallway and living room, police said, according to court papers. Blount's father, Edmon Blount, was found bloodied and nearly unconscious on a couch, the court papers indicated.

The court papers gave no indication of a motive for the alleged assault. The mother, Margaret Blount, told police that she, her husband and son visited and drank martinis before Margaret Blount went to bed. She was awakened by the sound of her husband and son arguing. Soon, Margaret Blount told police, Charles Blount was hitting her husband, and then struck her, according to the court papers.

Charles Blount's sister, Ciara Blount, 17, was in an upstairs bedroom when she heard the fight. She called a sister in Virginia, who urged her to stay in the bedroom. Ciara Blount was just about to call 911 when police burst into the house. The court papers did not indicate who called 911.

As Charles Blount was being led away, he resisted getting into the cruiser, and once inside the car, began kicking the passenger side window of the cruiser, court papers allege. Police said Blount's blood alcohol content was 0.225. A motorist can be arrested for drunken driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08.

The Blount parents were treated at Fletcher Allen Health Care and released.

Court records show Blount has been a Marine for 13 years. Prosecutor Carolyn Hanson said until recently, Blount had been posted at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The U.S. military is holding detainees from Afghanistan and elsewhere at Guantanamo.

Blount's attorney, James Murdoch, declined comment Monday.