Prosecutor: Woman hits Auburn man in head with hatchet, claiming he raped her

AUBURN, Wash. – A 32-year-old woman was charged with two counts of assault after burying a hatchet in the head of a man who she claims raped her, the King County prosecutor’s office alleged.

Daniell Meckle was charged with one count of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree assault in King County Superior Court on Thursday. The victim is intubated in the hospital, and his condition hasn’t been released.

According to court documents obtained by Q13 News:

A witness who was in the room said Meckle and a woman who was in the mobile home began arguing about the alleged rape while the primary victim was sleeping on the couch. The woman said she believed the rape allegations were retaliation for an earlier argument.

The woman said Meckle tried to hit her with the hatchet, but missed – hence the second-degree assault charge.

Both the woman and the other witness in the room said Meckle then swung the hatchet down and hit the victim in the head as he sat up on the couch.

“The witness says that the axe had to be pulled out of the victim’s skull,” according to court documents.

The police were called and Meckle was arrested, but the hatchet was nowhere to be found. Based on a phone call Meckle made from jail, police tracked down a neighbor who led them to the hatchet, which was buried two inches underground.

The man told police Meckle buried it there. The hatchet was clean and smelled of detergent, and police believe it was scrubbed to destroy trace evidence.