Holmes Beach police and Manatee County sheriff’s deputies arrested resident Douglas Naeher, 60, July 21 for allegedly attempting to murder his wife, a first-degree felony.
Naeher also faces a first-degree misdemeanor charge for domestic battery.
According to an affidavit in support of an arrest warrant, Naeher and his wife set out on their boat around 7 a.m. July 20 on a fishing trip. While fishing about 33 miles off Bean Point in Anna Maria, Naeher became irritated and his wife went swimming.
Naeher allegedly began to drive off without her, but he returned when another vessel came into view.
The affidavit states that when the wife climbed back into the boat, Naeher started punching and stomping her head, at which point she played dead so he would stop hitting her.
Naeher then allegedly dragged his wife by her hair into the water and attempted to “strangle and drown her.”
As the other vessel approached, Naeher allegedly let her go and began to drive away, leaving his wife in the water. However, she held onto the vessel and climbed back aboard when Naeher stopped the boat.
He then allegedly struck her “several more times” before shoving her overboard. She once again held onto the vessel and reboarded it.
Naeher allegedly continued battering her along the voyage home, until he had to actively pilot the vessel through a canal to their residential dock.
When he slowed down to dock the vessel, she jumped onto the dock and ran to the Holmes Beach Police Department to report the incident.
She was transported to the HCA Florida Blake Hospital in Bradenton to be treated for a concussion and multiple contusions.
Naeher fled the island but was arrested upon his return to their residence the next day.
He was transported to the Manatee County jail, where he remained in custody under a $30,000 bond as of July 27.
Naeher filed a not guilty plea July 23 and moved to reduce his bond at a July 25 court hearing. His motion was denied at the same hearing by Judge Teresa Kaklis Dees of the 12th Circuit Court.
If convicted, punishment for a first-degree felony includes life imprisonment without parole or the death penalty.
Punishment for a first-degree misdemeanor includes up to one year in jail, one year of probation and a fine of up to $1,000.
An arraignment will be at 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 5, at the Manatee County Judicial Center, 1051 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton.