Washington Township man sentenced to 12-24 years in prison in hatchet attack incident

A man from Washington Township was sentenced to 12 to 24 years in state prison after pleading no contest to accusations that he hit his ex-fiancee with a hatchet, which was still sticking out of her head when emergency responders arrived at her home in Butler County.

Dean Jay Law, 31, of the 5000 block of Greensburg Road, was sentenced by Butler County Common Pleas Judge Kelley Streib in connection with the June 9, 2020, incident at a home in Summit Township, according to court records.

State police charged Law with felony counts of attempted first-degree murder, burglary, aggravated assault and criminal trespass, court records show.

He was detained in the Butler County jail after the judge at his arraignment said Law posed a danger to society.

According to Law’s arrest papers, state police responded to a home in the 600 block of Bonniebrook Drive shortly before 7 a.m. for a report of a woman being attacked with an ax.

When police arrived, they found Law’s former fiancee with the ax embedded in her skull, the complaint said.

While being treated by paramedics, the woman told troopers that she was in her upstairs bedroom when Law “appeared” and hit her with the hatchet, police said.

The woman was in critical condition, and the injury left her blind in one eye, according to authorities.

While police were conducting interviews at the woman’s home, several family members alerted them to a red pickup truck in a nearby field that was traveling toward the home, according to a criminal complaint.

Police stopped the truck and took Law into custody. His girlfriend, who was a passenger in the vehicle, was detained but not charged.

While being taken into custody, Law told police that he “feels better” because he had “just released some stress,” the complaint said.

Troopers said they found firearms and other weapons in Law’s pickup.

Investigators said Law waived his right not to speak to police after his arrest and told them he had “no idea” how he got to Butler County and that he did not know the woman he was accused of attacking, the complaint said.

When police showed him a photo on social media of him with the woman, he responded that he was “just playing games” when he told them he didn’t know her, according to the complaint.

Police filed an additional charge of making a false report to law enforcement.

Law’s girlfriend told police that she previously saw the ax he used to attack his ex-fiancee at his home.