Man Accused of Chaining Wife 10 Years

A West Virginia man has been charged with "malicious wounding" after allegedly keeping his wife chained up for 10 years and torturing her. Police say Peter Lizon's wife showed up at a crisis center with scars on her wrists and ankles from her shackles, burns where he'd hit her with a frying pan, and badly mutilated feet that Lizon had allegedly crushed with a farm tractor's scoop, WSAZ 3 reports.

"This is a case that is tenfold what our average domestic (abuse) is," the county sheriff's chief deputy said. "It comes to what appears to be slavery and torture." Lizon, 37, also allegedly forced his wife, 43, to give birth to one child in chains; another pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. But Lizon's attorney says that the alleged victim is siding with her husband. He says that the police source, who is not Lizon's wife, has a "feeble mind" and that the charges are false. (More torture stories.)