Judge Issues 13-Year Sentence After Plea

SNOW HILL – A Salisbury man arrested on attempted murder and assault charges among others last May after holding his long-time girlfriend against her will for several hours and strangling her several times to the point she lost consciousness was sentenced this week to 13 years in jail after pleading guilty to first-degree assault in October.

Howard Michael Caltrider, 46, of Salisbury appeared in Worcester County Circuit Court on Wednesday facing a maximum of 25 years after pleading guilty to first-degree assault in October. After hearing testimony, Judge Thomas C. Groton sentenced Caltrider to 13 years in jail for the first-degree assault conviction.

On May 21, Howard Caltrider, 45, of Salisbury, was arrested for attempted second-degree murder and numerous other charges after a domestic incident during which he threatened to kill his girlfriend of 20 years several times and actually strangled her to the point of unconsciousness during a three-hour ordeal before the victim eventually escaped.

The victim told police she was sure she was going to die, regardless of whether she stayed or got caught trying to escape. Finally, she was able to escape after three hours when Caltrider became distracted and was able to flag down the off-duty firefighter.