Groton man sentenced for torturing wife for hours

A Groton man was sentenced to a suspended two-year prison term Thursday at Geographical Area Court 10 for torturing his wife for nearly five hours.

James D. Tapp, 36, a former Navy man, pleaded guilty to intentional cruelty to persons, second-degree assault, first-degree unlawful restraint and violation of a protective order.

Tapp was also placed on three years of probation.

According to a probable cause report, Tapp was arrested in May for beating his wife, threatening her with a knife and squeezing her fingers with pliers.

The victim, who at the time was assigned to the submarine base, said she and her husband went for a walk and started arguing.

“The accused believes that his wife told her Navy command that he suffers from PTSD and a traumatic brain injury from his deployments to Iraq,” the report said. “According to the victim, her husband believes that this violated his honor by informing her command.”

The victim told police that when they went home, Tapp attacked her.

The victim said Tapp told her that he would “redecorate her face.” Tapp threatened to shoot her with a gun. She said that during the attack, he held a knife and threatened to cut her “ear to ear”.

The victim said she did not attempt to leave because she would not leave her children behind.

Tapp then dragged the victim by the hair and threw her on the living room couch. He grabbed a set of pliers, held her pinky finger with it and squeezed.

The victim said when he stopped torturing her, he went to bed as if nothing had happened, the report said.