Husband Jacob Couch nearly ‘decapitated’ in front of horrified wife during maniac’s hatchet attack at Tucson bus stop
A father of two was nearly decapitated in front of his wife and left in critical condition by a hatchet-wielding menace as the couple were in the middle of a cross-country trip home — one year after their son’s death.
Jacob Couch, 32, was sitting on a bus stop bench with his wife, Kristen, in Tucson, Arizona when 25-year-old Daniel Michael confronted the pair on April 5.
Michael was allegedly carrying a hatchet through Tucson’s downtown area and began yelling at the couple, KOLD reported, citing court records.
Seeing your husband get almost decapitated and being the only one to help like it’s, hard,” Kristen Couch told the outlet.
She recalled telling the stranger they were just leaving as her husband bent down to grab their bags when Michael launched his horrific attack.
I’m still in shock,” Kristen Couch said.
The ruthless brute cut an artery in Couch’s neck and struck his skull.
The bloody attack took place a mile from the University of Arizona.
Couch was rushed to nearby Banner University Medical Center, where he underwent surgery and was placed on life support.
His family fears he won’t survive his injuries after doctors diagnosed him with an anoxic brain injury caused when the brain is deprived of oxygen for an extended period.
“He’s not expected to make it right now,” Couch’s younger brother Luke said outside the hospital days after the attack. “We’ve just been taking it how we can.”
They had been traveling by bus and were waiting at the 6th Avenue and Broadway station for the next leg of their journey.
“He was a very non-confrontational person,” Kristen Couch said. “He wasn’t aggressive. He was kind, he was so kind.”
Michael was identified by police through security footage and was captured three days after the attack.
He admitted to being in the area but denied attacking Couch when police first questioned him.
Officials discovered a hatchet and the clothing worn by the attacker in Michael’s home.
The accused brute claimed to have been drinking and didn’t remember any contact with Couch.
Couch’s brother blasted the suspected attacker for his brutal actions.
“If you’re going downtown when you’re drunk carrying a large machete like that, you have no other intentions other than to cause harm to somebody,” Luke Couch told KOLD. “He went down there looking for trouble and it just so happens to be my brother who is not going to make it home from this.”
https://nypost.com/2025/04/16/us-news/arizona-tuscon-axe-attack-leaves-jacob-couch-in-critical-condition-nearly-decapitated-by-daniel-michael/