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911 tape played at sentencing reflects chaos when Baxter man assaults wife and is stabbed by son
Staff Writer A Baxter man was sentenced Friday to more than eight years in prison for assaulting his wife on Christmas Eve in 2007.
Steven John Janousek, 38, was sentenced by Judge David J. Ten Eyck to 100 months in prison with credit for time served. Of that sentence, 66 2/3 months were to be served in prison while 33 1/3-months would be served on supervised release.
Janousek pleaded guilty on Nov. 3 to first-degree assault resulting in great bodily harm. As a result, other charges in the case were dropped and it did not go to a jury trial.
Tricia Janousek sat in the Crow Wing County courtroom and sobbed, as did many of her family and friends, as they listened to the chilling 911 audio recording of her estranged husband nearly strangling her to death in her Baxter home on Christmas Eve 2007. She told police after the assault that she believed her 16-year-old son Devin, now 17, saved her life by stabbing his father twice in the chest when he wouldn't stop punching and choking her.
Steven Janousek, his head shaven and wearing a long goatee, stared straight ahead and appeared to show no emotion as the nearly fiv-e-minute recording was played by Crow Wing County prosecutor David Hermerding during Janousek's sentencing hearing.
On the recording, Tricia Janousek had called 911 to report her estranged husband had broken into her home. Her screams echoed through the courtroom as Steven's voice could also be heard repeatedly telling her, "Say goodbye," "Shut up and go" and "Goodnight" as he assaulted her. The 911 recording captured the entire assault and was played in its entirety Friday.
According to court documents: • Steven and Tricia Janousek were in the process of getting a divorce. Devin Janousek and his brothers had visited their father at his Baxter apartment and told police that their father "started acting funny, as if he had been drinking or taking drugs."
• After leaving their father's apartment, the brothers returned to their Baxter home and saw their father pull into the driveway and begin pounding on the front door. At that point, Tricia Janousek called 911.
• Steven Janousek threw a chair through a window to get into the house. Tricia Janousek went into a bedroom and locked the door but Steven Janousek broke the door in. He then began to choke and punch her in the face. She told police Steven Janousek said "tonight was the night I was going to die" and that "he had it all figured out."
• Tricia Janousek told police she believed she was going to die and she eventually blacked out from being choked.
• When Devin re-entered the house, he saw his father assaulting his mother and when Steve Janousek wouldn't stop, Devin Janousek stabbed him.
• When Baxter police officers arrived, they found Steven Janousek straddling Tricia Janousek's head, his fists covered in blood. They also found Devin Janousek with a knife in his hands and Steven Janousek with wounds from Devin Janousek.
On the 911 recording, Devin Janousek could be heard yelling at his father to stop beating his mother.
"Dad, get the (expletive) off of her," Devin Janousek shouted on the recording. "Get off her right now."
Steven Janousek told his son on the recording, "I didn't do nothing, she did." and also told him, "You'll be next."
The 911 recording ended when Baxter police officers entered the room.
Hermerding read in court a written statement by Tricia Janousek, who said during those three minutes on Dec. 24, 2007, her life and the lives of her children changed forever.
"I can still see the evil in his eyes as he kept telling me to go to sleep," Tricia Janousek wrote. In her letter she told the judge that Steven Janousek is not remorseful and "in his eyes, this is all my fault." She said he holds long grudges and she fears for her life and for her sons' lives when he gets out of jail.
Hermerding told Judge Ten Eyck that Tricia Janousek endured several surgeries as a result of the assault and that her sons suffered emotional trauma. He said Steven Janousek got out of treatment at Hazelden only 13 days before he assaulted his wife and that instead of using the tools he learned while in treatment, "he chose to use his fists."
"This is one of the most horrible crimes I've been privy to see," Hermerding said. "The 911 tape speaks volumes."
Steven Janousek's attorney, Ed Helleckson, told the judge that Steven Janousek is remorseful and has accepted responsibility for what he has done. Helleckson said Janousek was "operating in a blackout" during the assault on Tricia Janousek caused by taking prescription medication and alcohol, along with sleep deprivation which required additional medication. Helleckson said his client recognizes his mistake of not reaching out to a friend or a sponsor for help.
"It's pretty clear it was a cry for help from Mr. Janousek and he accepts this," Helleckson said.
Helleckson said Steven Janousek completed a 144-hour treatment program while housed in the Crow Wing County Jail and while in jail "he found Christ."
When asked if he had a statement to make, Steven Janousek told the judge that "there isn't a day that goes by that I think if I could go back and take that back, I would."
In addition to prison, Janousek was ordered to pay $500 restitution to the crime victims board and a $137 fine.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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