Woman Charged In Husband's Kinky Sex Death
A Maury County woman has been charged with reckless homicide for what her attorney says was the accidental asphyxiation of her husband after he consented to be bound and gagged.
"The whole family is upset with what occurred," Samuel Patterson, an attorney representing 25-year-old Rebecca Bargy, told Columbia newspaper The Daily Herald. "We stand by the fact that this was an accident."
According to the arrest warrant, Rebecca Bargy placed duct tape over James Bargy's mouth and eyes, put a ball gag in his mouth and then tied a bandage around his head, leaving only his nostrils showing.
She also tied his hands and legs behind his back. She then left him for 20 hours.
"Apparently, this was not the first time it had happened," Maury County Sheriff's Detective Anthony Bailey said of the bondage.
Authorities found the 29-year-old's body around 4 p.m. Saturday. Rebecca Bargy faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty.
"The proof will show that James consented to this being done to him and that he was an active participant," Patterson said.
Mona Phillips, Rebecca Bargy's mother, said it was an accident, but his sister thinks it was intentional.
Police think they know where Rebecca was during the 20 hours she left her bound husband alone and it may change the way they prosecute the case.
Detectives said she stayed with another man in a local motel at least two days last week. Bargy met him online and bought his airline ticket from California.
Detectives said she left briefly and returned home to see her husband.
Phillips said her daughter and son-in-law did what they wanted.
"They came and went as they pleased. It's pretty much what they did. Always been that way," Phillips said.
James Bargy's sister, Lisa Brady, wrote in an e-mail to WTVF, "Rebecca has repeatedly engaged in extramarital affairs over the last few months. She made sure she got him out of the way so she could have her single life again."
Rebecca Bargy has a bond hearing set for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday in Mt. Pleasant. She has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
If convicted for reckless homicide, Bargy could be sentenced to two to 12 years in prison, according to CBS News affiliate WTVF in Nashville, Tenn.
But the district attorney could upgrade the charge to murder.
Police questioned the man Bargy met stayed with at a Columbia motel. He was not charged with any crime. She is held without bond at the Maury County Jail. She will appear before a judge later this week.