Man accused of trying to kill wife bound over for trial

An Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office detective testified Monday that a medical report released earlier that day shows the estranged wife of a man who is charged with trying to kill her was shot at least three times at their Town of Grafton home in October.

The testimony of Zachary Gierach, who investigated the shooting, came during a preliminary hearing in Ozaukee County Circuit Court that ended with Judge Adam Gerol binding Guy J. Paider over for trial on charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree endangering safety.

Paider, who is accused of shooting his wife on the day she filed for divorce, is being held in the county jail in lieu of $3 million bail. He appeared in the courtroom wearing an orange jail uniform and sat emotionless during the hearing. 

Gierach testified that authorities were called to the Paiders’ home off Highway C south of Stonecroft Drive and north of Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve at 3:50 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24, by the couple’s daughter, who reported a fight between her parents.

Because the Sheriff’s Office was experiencing a high call volume at the time, it requested assistance, Gierach said. Officer Patrick Brock and Sgt. Noah Eernisse of the Grafton Police Department were the first to arrive at the house and were let in by the girl, who reported that her mother told her to call 911 and her father told her to get out of the house, according to a criminal complaint.

The officers noticed signs of a struggle in the kitchen, including a pair of glasses on the floor, and after announcing their presence heard a woman screaming in a back bedroom, Gierach said.

The door to that room was locked, so Brock kicked it in and told the people inside to come out with their hands up. That is when Brock heard multiple gunshots. His body camera recorded the sound of four shots, the complaint states.

Believing the shots were being fired at them, Brock and Eernisse retreated down the hallway and again ordered the people in the bedroom to show their hands. Paider announced he was coming out of the room with his hands raised, then surrendered to the officers, according to the complaint.

Eernisse went into the bedroom to find Paider’s 48-year-old wife on the bed shot multiple times, including in the abdomen, leg and groin. He rendered aid until emergency medics arrived and moved the woman from the bed to the floor and worked to save her life. She was taken by ambulance to Aurora Medical Center in Grafton, then flown by a Flight for Life helicopter to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa, where she was in stable condition the following day, according to the Sheriff’s Office. 

In the bedroom officers found a Kimber 1911 semi-automatic handgun with a bullet in the chamber and two in the seven-round magazine. Four bullets and shell casings were recovered from the room.

Three days after the shooting, the woman told Gierach and another detective, who interviewed her in her hospital room, that after meeting with her lawyer regarding her divorce on Oct. 24, she went home to find Paider and their daughter cooking in the kitchen. She said her husband repeatedly asked her what she wanted in the divorce and she said she didn’t want to talk about it in front of their daughter, according to the complaint.

The woman said Paider sent their daughter to her bedroom, then threw her to the floor. She said she hit her head and began yelling for her daughter to call 911, the complaint states.

Paider then covered her mouth, the woman said, picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, where he threw her to the floor again. She said she covered her face with her hands and began screaming “no, no,” then opened her eyes to see Paider retrieving his gun from the underwear drawer of his dresser, according to the complaint.

She said Paider told her, “Look at me. Look at me so you can see me when I shoot you” as she pleaded with him not to shoot, the complaint states.

“She said she refused to look at him,” Gierach testified.

The woman said she was covering her face with a pillow when Paider again demanded she look at him and said, “You called the sheriff. They are here. That’s what you wanted.” Then, she said, Paider shot her, the complaint states.

Paider is a former longtime member of the West Allis Fire Department. According to the department’s 2022 annual report, he worked for the department for more than 26 years and served as its battalion chief. He also worked as a nurse with emergency room experience and served as an EMT-paramedic instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College. 

In addition, Paider served as the town representative on the Grafton Public Safety Committee for a short time last year. 

On Monday, Ozaukee County District Attorney Benjamin Lindsay said he may revise the first-degree recklessly endangering safety charge against Paider based on the medical report that was received earlier that day.

The charges Paider faces carry a domestic abuse surcharge and accuse him of committing his crimes with a dangerous weapon, which means the maximum prison term for each crime could be increased by five years if he is convicted. 

Attempted first-degree intentional homicide is punishable by a maximum 40 years in prison and 20 years of extended supervision. First-degree recklessly endangering safety is punishable by a maximum 7-1/2 years in prison and five years of extended supervision. 

During an Oct. 30 bail hearing, Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Steve Cain ordered Paider to surrender any weapons he owns to the Sheriff’s Office and, if released from jail, submit to GPS monitoring.

Paider is scheduled to enter a plea to the charges he faces during an arraignment hearing on Jan. 22.