Mystic — Mike Nolan was sitting in his computer room in his Meadowbrook Lane home late Wednesday night when he heard a woman scream, “Help me! He’s trying to kill me!”

He ran outside and couldn’t believe what he saw. His neighbor, Bryan Marshall, was straddling his wife, Adrienne Amero-Marshall, and an obvious struggle was underway, Nolan recalled Thursday.

“He was on top of her on the ground,” Nolan said. “When I yelled out to them, he jumped up and ran back inside the home.”

Nolan said Amero-Marshall came running to him and was bleeding profusely. Nolan said it appeared that Amero-Marshall had managed to grab a pair of scissors away from her husband, but not before he allegedly had slashed her across the neck.

Nolan said he took Amero-Marshall across the street to safety then quickly ran back to his home to call 911 and to grab a blanket to help stop the bleeding.

Nolan said that shortly thereafter, the couple’s home, a two-story garage apartment at 10 Meadowbrook Lane, was ablaze. When Nolan approached the home, he said, he saw Marshall on the ground with a serious head injury and complaining of back pain.

“I helped drag him across the street,” Nolan said. “He didn’t look good.”

Police Detective Sgt. David Knowles said officers obtained a search warrant early Thursday, which allowed them to enter the charred structure and begin their investigation.

Both local and state fire marshals were at the scene Thursday morning. Yellow tape cordoned off the house on and investigators could be seen taking pictures and walking around the lawn.

Stonington police Capt. Jerry Desmond said Thursday afternoon that the incident remains under investigation. He would not comment on a possible motive.

Stonington police said they received several 911 calls at about 10:42 p.m. Wednesday from a Meadowbrook Lane residence reporting a married couple involved in an active domestic disturbance.

Police found Amero-Marshall outside. Shortly after assisting her, police said, they discovered a two-story structure on fire. Police said Marshall had jumped out of a second-floor window.

Amero-Marshall, 49, was listed in fair condition Thursday at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital. Her husband, 50, was transferred to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where he is listed in critical condition.

Amero-Marshall is currently unemployed. Her husband worked as an outside sales representative for HESCO in Rocky Hill, an industrial automation provider.

A man who answered the phone at HESCO was unaware of the incident and declined further comment.

Nolan said the couple lived above the garage, where the fire occurred. The house on the same property did not appear to be damaged. Nolan said the couple usually rent out the house during the summer.

Nolan said he grew up in the usually quiet neighborhood. The Marshalls had no children together and for the most part kept to themselves but were friendly, he said.

“I never saw police respond there,” Nolan said. “I never heard them argue.”

According to the Chapel of Flowers in Las Vegas, Bryan Marshall and Adrienne Amero were married in the Magnolia Chapel on Aug. 11, 2003.

i.larraneta@theday.com