Husband of beating victim arrested near Seattle

A man who allegedly beat, burned and attempted to strangle his wife in Cougar Gulch was arrested Monday in the Seattle area after nearly a year on the run.

The U.S. Marshals Service arrested James Vincent Gitto, 33, after receiving information that he was in the area south of Seattle. Marshal Eric Robertson, of the Seattle office, said he couldn’t comment Thursday on where the Pacific Northwest Fugitive Apprehension Task Force, which comprises federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, received the tip about Gitto’s location.

Robertson said the task force surveyed the area before arresting Gitto without incident in the parking lot of a hardware store.

Gitto is charged with alleged domestic battery in the presence of a child, kidnapping and attempted strangulation. He’s in the King County Jail with bail set at $500,000.

Kootenai County Sheriff Capt. Ben Wolfinger said Gitto has refused to sign waivers that would allow his extradition to Idaho. That means Gov. Dirk Kempthorne must sign a warrant asking Washington to return Gitto to the state. Wolfinger said that process can take 90 days. Gitto will remain in jail unless he posts bail.

Gitto has been a fugitive since April 2005, when he is accused of kidnapping, choking and viciously beating his 22-year-old wife in the presence of their two young children.

Gitto’s wife, who was interviewed at Kootenai Medical Center, told police that Gitto beat and choked her until she lost consciousness, drove her south of town near Cougar Gulch and U.S. Highway 95 and made her crawl under a barbed wire fence and walk up a hill. He tied her to a tree and said he would kill her later or let her die there, according to a Coeur d’Alene Police Department report.

After he left, she freed herself by burning the rope with matches from her pocket. She flagged down a driver, who took her to the hospital, according to the report. Police documented her many injuries, including bruises, cuts, a swollen eye and cigarette burns.

Gitto, a laborer, and his family were living in the Bates Motel in Coeur d’Alene and had recently come from the Seattle area, according to the report.

Neighbors at the motel heard Gitto and his wife yelling the evening of April 25 and saw them leave, police reported. Witnesses told police Gitto’s wife had a hand over her eye.

After allegedly leaving the woman in the Cougar Gulch area, Gitto dropped their children off at his wife’s grandmother’s house and was last seen in the Spokane area.

Secret Witness offered an award for any information on Gitto. Coeur d’Alene Police Sgt. Christie Wood said the capture of Gitto was not the result of tips to Secret Witness.