June 11, 2014: A woman who allegedly tried to slit the throat of a police officer after sneaking up behind him while under arrest, has been acquitted of attempted murder charges. Woman Acquitted in Attempted Murder of Police | Officer's jugular cut in knife attack | CCTV. Woman Attempts to Murder Police Officer | Cop jugular cut in knife attack | trying slit throat CCTV- 2014 Frightening footage released this week from the Rutland Police Department in Vermont shows Jennifer Berube launching at officer Damon Nguyen from behind and wrapping her arm around his neck following her arrest with former husband John MacLean III in December 2012. Berube, 40, used a 5cm-long blade she had kept hidden in her jacket pocket to try and slice Mr Nguyen before police managed to drag her away. "in pink" The officer's jugular vein was cut, requiring treatment in hospital, but he has since recovered and returned to work, local newspaper the Times Argus reports. Berube -- who was homeless and hooked on heroin at the time -- allegedly believed her husband had tried to hang himself with his shoelaces in a holding cell and she was attacking the officer in an attempt to help MacLean. Her lawyer argued she only meant to scare the officer, not to kill him. Her lawyer said Berube was a registered nurse who knew "how to use a knife" and "if she wanted to kill she would have plunged the knife right in". The jury found her not guilty of attempted second-degree murder and a lesser charge of attempted aggravated assault last week. security camera. surveillance video. caught on tape. cam. Rutland jury defends decision to acquit attempted murder suspect A Vermont woman was found not guilty of attempted murder. That's despite a security camera capturing her sneaking up behind a Rutland police officer with a knife. David Soucy, the jury foreman and the rest of the jury in this case came to almost an immediate decision that Jennifer Berube was not guilty. He says there were two key pieces of evidence that convinced them the charges did not fit the crime. Many who saw the video from December 2012 of 40-year-old Jennifer Berube approaching Rutland City police officer Damon Nguyen from behind with a knife were surprised that the Vermont woman walked free after a trial ended just under two weeks ago. "The scene is horrific I mean, she has a knife, she sneaks up behind him, there's a big you know, fight for the knife," said Soucy. But Soucy says the charge of attempted second degree murder that prosecutors brought, didn't fit. "She certainly assaulted the officer, there was no question about that, but that wasn't the charge," said Soucy. After the jury of eight women and four men viewed evidence, including the video, Soucy says they came to decision almost right away. A Vermont woman who sneaked up behind a police officer while under arrest and allegedly tried to slit his throat with a knife was found not guilty of attempted murder. Jennifer Berube, 40, was acquitted of attempted second-degree murder and a lesser charge of attempted aggravated assault on Friday by a jury in Rutland, a city in western Vermont about 60 miles south of Burlington. Berube and her former husband, John MacLean III, were arrested in December 2012 for trying to use a stolen credit card. While in police custody, Berube, who was homeless and hooked on heroin at the time, believed she heard MacLean trying to hang himself with his shoelaces in his holding cell. In a bid to help, she slipped a Leatherman tool out of a hidden jacket pocket and attacked Officer Damon Nguyen with it. Surveillance footage from inside the station house showed Berube grabbing Nguyen by the neck with a 2-inch blade in her hand before getting overpowered by several other officers. Nguyen suffered a cut near his jugular vein and was treated at a hospital. He has since recovered and was back on the job. It took the 12-man jury less than two hours to acquit Berube. During the trial, her defense attorneys argued she was merely trying to scare the officer, not kill him. "She's an RN. She knows how to use a knife. If she wanted to kill she would have plunged the knife right in," attorney Daniel Sedon said after the verdict. Prosecutors and other city officials, including the mayor, said they were disappointed in the verdict. "I'm shocked and dismayed, quite frankly, not just by the verdict but by the disappointment I feel on behalf of members of the police department," Mayor Christopher Louras told the newspaper. woman, cop, throat, slit, slash, police, officer, blade, acquitted, vermont, rutland Location: Rutland, Vermont, United States . kills, murderer

• published: 11 Jun 2014
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