Woman in Spokane Valley beaten and bloodied, found near a knife and pieces of her tongue

A Spokane Valley man admitted to police that he beat his wife with a steel bar and cut out her tongue because she had used her “tongue from Satan” to curse him, according to court documents.

In a letter read by a victim advocate, family members told a judge Thursday afternoon that the man, Vladimir V. Pavlik, had beaten his wife with a tire iron before but she was too afraid of him to report the crime to police.

Pavlik was charged Thursday with first-degree attempted murder. Judge Debra Hayes set his bond at $1 million.

At about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, deputies received a call from a man who claimed to have “bit his wife and cut her thumb and had a knife,” court documents show. Deputies arrived to a residence in the 11700 block of East Alki Avenue where they found 60-year-old Vladimir V. Pavlik leaving the house, court records say.

Pavlik, who was covered in blood, initially refused to follow commands, possibly due to a language barrier, deputies said.

Deputies found Lyudmila Pavlik covered in blood on the floor of the dining room. She appeared to have been badly beaten but was still breathing, court documents say. There was a 12-inch steel “breaker bar” next to her, also covered in blood.

Nearby were a steak knife and needle-nose pliers, along with two pieces of human tongue, court records say.

Through a Russian interpreter, Pavlik told deputies he had “lasted eight years” without killing his wife.

After Pavlik was treated at a local hospital for high insulin levels, he told deputies that he was upset because he believed his wife didn’t work hard enough. He also said he had told her to consult with the pastors at their church on their relationship but he was upset that the pastors seemed to take her side, according to court documents.

Pavlik reportedly told investigators that he beat his wife until she was unconscious and then cut out her tongue as a “sign to other women that they needed to not mock men,” court documents say.

Investigators wrote in court documents that Pavlik told his story with little emotion and didn’t ask about his wife’s injuries.

Lyudmila Pavlik was taken to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center with life-threatening injuries and was in critical condition Thursday. A doctor told deputies that she had multiple skull fractures, and that the woman’s tongue was damaged too severely to reattach the severed pieces, court documents say.

The letter written by Lyudmila Pavlik’s family and read aloud in court Thursday said Pavlik beat his wife with a tire iron four or five years ago.

“She never reported the crime, due to the fear that defendant threatened to kill her two children and do worse to her,” the victim advocate read aloud. “If he is let out of custody, they’re going to have to take other measures in order to keep themselves and their children safe.”