A wife has told of how her husband tried to kill her after she found out he was having sex with a 14-year-old female student. Former Michigan middle school teacher, James Philip Chelekis, will spend the next 30 to 60 years in prison. The 32-year-old father-of-two broke down in tears as he was given the lengthy sentence after his ex-wife, Amanda, described the horrific attack in court.
The mother of his two children said he came up behind her, kissed her forehead and slit her throat after she confronted him about his sexual relationship with the middle school child. She added that after he cut her throat, he then proceeded to read her Bible verses. When Amanda's husband saw that she was bleeding out, he called the underage girl he was having an illicit affair with and it was the teenager who talked him into calling 911, some 55 minutes after the attack at their Grand Rapids home on June 27.
Amanda recalls: "He came out of the closet behind me, my head was tipped back resting on the back of the chair with my eyes closed. Standing behind me, he kissed my forehead and slit my throat from one side to the other."
Amanda said she grabbed the knife, cutting her hands badly. She had a gaping wound on her neck as the pair struggled on the floor. She knew she was close to dying.
"At one point, he laid next to me, and said, 'This is the end,'" she said. "He went from being a good person in a good marriage to attempting to murder me to cover this relationship with the student up."
Amanda said that it was her training as a nurse that allowed her to position her head so that the blood did not fill her airways. She said she was bleeding for at least 55 minutes before her husband called for help.
"He asked why I hadn't bled out yet. I was constantly praying to find a way to live," Amanda told the court. "I told him I was going to die very soon if he didn't do something and he would regret it the rest of his life."
The teacher had a different story for the injuries on his wife's body. He claimed that during an argument with his 33-year-old wife he grabbed a knife to protect himself and she fell on the blade. The couple's two daughters were home at the time of the attack, but were not aware of what happened.
On Tuesday, Amanda faced her ex-husband in court where he had previously pleaded guilty to attempted murder and two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct against a child.
"Someday when it is developmentally appropriate, I have to tell my children their father is not with us because he tried to kill me," Amanda said as her husband wept a few feet away.
The female student, who was 14 at the time, told detectives that the tryst with the teacher went on for a year and a half ( meaning she was about 13 when it began), and investigators also found text message and photos confirming the relationship.
The mother of the 14-year-old girl with whom he had been having a relationship with for the better part of a year wrote a letter to the court which was read aloud.
"He was successful at fooling colleagues, school officials and many other adults, including my husband and me, so I'm not surprised how he was able to brainwash our impressionable and vulnerable child as well," the mother wrote.
Before being led away to prison, Chelekis offered an apology, saying: "I failed… And I'm truly sorry about how I failed and hurt people I truly cared about."
Amanda has since divorced the man who tried to kill her and now goes by another name.
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