Elmore man convicted in stabbing, sent to prison
Jun. 16—ELMORE — A man who stabbed, punched, choked and hit a woman in the face with a pipe wrench while he held her captive in his Faribault County home will be in prison through at least 2023.
Michael Walton Hinton, 56, of Elmore, was sentenced Monday in Faribault County District Court in connection with the 2019 assault.
A woman who had met Hinton one time prior to the incident went to his house and they used methamphetamine, according to court documents. When the woman tried to leave, he put her in a choke hold and handcuffed her. He then got a knife and threatened her, including holding the knife to her eye and threatening to cut her eyes out.
The woman said Hinton then punched her in the face, gagged and choked her. When she began to pass out, he accused her of ignoring him and stabbed her twice in the leg.
He then took her to the basement, grabbed a pipe wrench and hit her in the face multiple times. He told her he was surprised she was still alive, opened a valve to let natural gas into the basement and said he was going to blow them up.
He later took her to a bathroom and made her take a bath with him.
The woman escaped after Hinton left to get more methamphetamine. She was treated in an emergency room for the stab wounds as well as an eye that had swollen shut and bruising on other parts of her body, court documents say.
Hinton pleaded guilty to felony assault with a dangerous weapon in April. Kidnapping and criminal sexual conduct charges were dismissed.
County Attorney Kathryn Karjala requested an aggravated sentence of 8 1/2 years in prison, which is double the presumptive sentence.
Judge Michael Trushenski sentenced Hinton to seven years in prison.
Hinton was given credit for over two years already spent in custody, including a six-month civil commitment for drug addiction.
He'll be eligible for parole in December 2023.
Two other cases against Hinton were dismissed Monday and a third concluded with a sentence of time already served.
In 2016 he fled from a state trooper while intoxicated. Hinton had marijuana, and a breathalyzer showed he had an alcohol concentration of 0.10 after a 2-mile pursuit in Faribault County, a court complaint says.
Hinton pleaded guilty to felony fleeing police and was sentenced Monday to time served.
Two sets of charges filed in 2018 were dismissed. In July he reportedly swerved his lawnmower at a man he had accused of spreading feces on his house. He then reportedly threatened to kill a police officer who did not see any feces.
In October Hinton and two women reportedly burglarized an Elmore house and shed, taking a variety of household items and an ATV.
