A Connecticut man wanted for allegedly kidnapping and stabbing his estranged wife in Marietta was arrested Friday afternoon in Tennessee following a high-speed chase with police.
Kenneth Terry, 53, was arrested by U.S. Marshals and the Tennessee State Patrol after fleeing authorities at speeds “well in excess of 100 mph,” Marietta police spokesman Officer Chuck McPhilamy said.
The chase began when authorities spotted the man’s vehicle traveling north on I-75 in Athens, Tennessee, authorities said.
Marietta police asked the public for help tracking down Terry after he allegedly kidnapped and assaulted the woman Thursday evening before forcing her into her car and driving her to a Marietta hotel.
McPhilamy said the woman was attacked in Sandy Springs after months of trying to escape her abusive husband.
“The victim had been severely beaten and stabbed before Terry pulled into a Marietta hotel parking lot,” he said. “Terry had been driving the victim’s vehicle and briefly stepped out of it while stopped in the parking lot. The victim seized the opportunity to lock her car doors, get into her driver’s seat and navigate her vehicle to the front of the hotel.”
The woman got out and screamed for help as Terry tried to force her back inside, police said.
A security guard at the hotel noticed the struggle and confronted Terry, who jumped into the car and drove off.
The two had been childhood friends who reconnected as adults and eventually married, McPhilamy said. While Terry and his wife were still together, Marietta police responded to multiple domestic disputes at the couple’s home.
In late September, the woman called 911 and told them her estranged husband came to her home and raped her, authorities said. Since then, Terry allegedly contacted the woman several more times, forcing his wife to relocate to another city.
Terry was on federal probation in Connecticut at the time, and has been wanted by U.S. Marshals for weeks, McPhilamy said.
“We are convinced that the assistance we received from all of the local media and residents in the area spreading the word quickly pushed his hand and forced him to flee north,” McPhilamy said.
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