Former Bush counsel charged in Conn. with trying to kill wife after she sought divorce

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — An attorney who worked in both Bush administrations was charged Thursday with trying to kill his wife by beating her with a flashlight and choking her two days after she delivered divorce papers.

John Michael Farren, 57, was arraigned on charges of strangulation and attempted murder and ordered held on $2 million bail.

His wife, Mary Farren, was beaten so severely Wednesday night at their New Canaan home that she was at points knocked unconscious and lost vision, police said. She managed to sound an alarm and flee the house with her two children.