FARMINGTON — A Carthage man is charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault after he allegedly attacked his girlfriend Oct. 31, slashing her throat, saying, “I should kill you,” and telling her to die, police said.

Benjamin T. Bowie Jr., 47, appeared in Franklin County District Court via video Wednesday from the Franklin County Jail, where Judge Charles Dow set $250,000 cash bail, as requested by Assistant District Attorney Joshua Robbins.

Bowie did not enter a plea, but his attorney, Thomas Carey, reserved the right to argue bail. Bowie was arrested Tuesday by Franklin County Deputy Andrew Morgan on a class A felony charge of attempted murder and a class B felony charge of aggravated assault after Wells police found him that afternoon staying at his aunt’s house in Wells. Police had been looking for him since Sunday.

The original warrant for Bowie’s arrest was for a class B domestic aggravated assault charge, but new information Franklin County officers gathered from an interview with the victim prompted the new charges.

Morgan filed the information in a probable cause affidavit with the court on Tuesday, which states that an argument at the couple’s shared trailer late on Oct. 31 resulted in Bowie threatening to kill the woman, punching her in the face, repeatedly slamming her head on the dashboard of his truck and making a 2-inch cut on her neck with his hunting knife.

Early on Sunday, Morgan and Cpl. Matthew Brawn went to 27 Francis Place in Carthage after the homeowner reported that a young woman bleeding from the neck had showed up at her house. Information released in Morgan’s affidavit confirmed that the home was that of Bowie’s mother, Gertrude Bowie.

When Morgan arrived, he could see the victim was bleeding from the neck, and Bowie’s mother told him that she had arrived at the house unexpectedly and went to the bathroom to clean herself up.

According to the affidavit, when Morgan asked the victim about her injury, she said Bowie had cut her throat with a knife.

Bowie’s mother told Morgan that she had seen a bottle of pills fall out of the victim’s clothes as she was cleaning herself up and she believed the victim was on drugs. Neither Bowie’s mother or his father, Benjamin Bowie Sr., had seen Bowie since the day before.

At the Bowies’ home, Morgan saw a Chevrolet pickup truck parked in the driveway. The passenger side window was broken and blood was visible on the outside of the door. The truck was registered to Bowie Jr., according to the affidavit.

Later Sunday afternoon, Morgan went to interview the woman at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, where she had undergone surgery for her injuries that morning. The woman was heavily medicated and couldn’t answer Morgan’s questions without falling asleep. Morgan said she had a bandage on her neck and several small scrapes and swelling around her left eye.

Franklin County Detective Kenneth Charles interviewed the victim again Tuesday at CMMC, where she remained for treatment.

The woman told Charles that she and Bowie had been living together for about a year, and that the Sunday altercation arose out of her request to stay at her father’s house that night because of the cold weather. She said that Bowie became upset and jealous, accusing her of cheating on him with other men, the affidavit said.

The woman told Charles that Bowie had consumed at least 12 beers that night, as well as an undetermined amount of vodka. She also told him that Bowie had used intravenous heroin.

After Bowie punched her in the face, the victim fled to Bowie’s truck in the driveway, where she sat in the passenger side and Bowie sat in the driver’s seat. At that point, the victim said, Bowie retrieved his hunting knife from his belt and poked her on the neck several times, leaving small scrapes, the affidavit says.

She also told Charles that in the truck Bowie grabbed her hair by the back of the head and began slamming her head onto the dashboard. The affidavit states that Bowie then got out of the truck and the victim was able to lock the doors, but that through the ajar passenger side window, Bowie reached in with his knife, cutting the victim’s neck.

Throughout the altercation, the victim reported that Bowie was yelling, “Die, bitch, die,” and “I should kill you.”

She told Charles that she was able to escape and was unsure whose house she ended up running to for assistance. She also said she was unsure how the passenger window was broken.

On Monday, Franklin County had put out a warrant for Bowie’s arrest, and on Tuesday he was found to be staying at his aunt’s house in Wells, where he was arrested without protest, Sheriff Scott Nichols said. Franklin County deputies picked up Bowie from the York County Jail and formally arrested him on the aggravated assault and attempted murder charges.

If convicted, an attempted murder charge carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. An aggravated assault charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

Lauren Abbate — 861-9252

labbate@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Lauren_M_Abbate