EASTHAMPTON — Alarmed residents in an Easthampton neighborhood watched authorities Sunday evening comb through yards and wooded areas by foot and air, searching for a man who threatened to chop “to pieces” the husband of the woman with whom he had been staying, police said.
Jack Smith, 50, of Easthampton, pleaded not guilty in Northampton District Court on Monday to threatening to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct and disturbing the police. He is due back in court April 14.
The woman, who also appeared in court Monday to request a restraining order against Smith, sobbed as she was escorted out of court by a victim advocate. Judge W. Michael Goggins granted the order for one year. Smith was ordered held on $500 cash bail Monday.
The woman reported to reported to police about 8:20 p.m. Sunday that Smith was brandishing a kitchen knife in the bedroom of her home.
Smith threatened to kill her husband and sent her texts saying he would chop him “into 100 pieces,” according to court records.
The woman told police that Smith, with whom she had a lengthy romantic relationship, had been staying in her home and seemed “mentally unstable” the past couple of days.
Police told the woman and her young grandchildren to stay away from the house and to retreat to a locked car as they began their search for Smith on Sunday night. The woman’s husband, who was in the basement, also was ordered out of the house, according to police.
When police entered the bedroom, Smith was nowhere to be found. However, the bedroom window was open, and the knife he allegedly had was on a nightstand, police said. Scuff marks lined the vinyl siding on the house below the window where Smith shimmied down, police said.
Residents peered from windows and came outside as police and K-9 units searched nearby streets, but were told to return inside because there was a chance Smith was armed, according to court documents.
A short time later, authorities received multiple calls of a man running through yards, police said. One man reported that Smith broke down a backyard fence.
Police found Smith and held him at gunpoint outside a home on Plain Street, according to court documents. He told police he was sorry that he had been “having problems” lately with his “girlfriend,” according to court documents.
Police said the woman told officials she was scared Smith would kill her if he is released and that he had threatened her and her family in the past with a knife, according to court documents.
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.