In a rare move you don't often see in felony cases, the husband from Champion accused of assaulting his wife, then trying to make it look like a suicide attempt, took the stand in court on Thursday.

Christopher Dellick repeatedly insisted on October 17th, 2013 he found his wife Rebecca in their tub with the shower running, a gash in her thigh, and knife in her hand. Dellick said, "I heard the shower running and called for my wife. I opened the door, and she was laying in the tub with her inner thigh sliced up, and she was non responsive. Her arm was hanging over the edge of the tub and she had the knife in her hand. I knocked it out of her hand with my knee and it fell on the floor. I panicked. I dropped to my knees. I reached behind the linen closet grabbed a wash cloth and put it on the gash and tried to get her to come to."

Dellick added, "When I asked her what happened she kept telling me she was sorry, she was sorry. Then she turned her head to the other side and that's when I noticed the marks on her neck. It was beat red. A blue towel was on the floor in a twisted manner. I told her I was going to call 911 and she begged me not to. She said, 'no, no don't.' She wanted me to take her to the hospital because I could get there faster. When we were on the way she told me she wanted to get our daughter, who was at her former husband's home in Bristol, so I turned in the direction away from the hospital. I didn't want to upset her."

Once there Dellick testified that his estranged wife Rebecca asked him to go to the door to get their daughter. Dellick said, "I went to the door, Rebecca's former husband was pushing me, then he pulled me into the house. We fell near a couch. I called 911, when he had me up against a wall with his hands around my throat." Dellick was later arrested later that day by a sheriff's deputy.

DNA evidence on the knife showed Rebecca's blood and DNA on the weapon that was processed by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification. There was a pair of blue gloves in the bathroom, but an expert testified there was no DNA on them.

Defense attorney David Rouzzo questioned why Rebecca Dellick went to the home alone, if she was in fear of her husband. Rouzzo asked why she didn't flee during several opportunities, and why there were no scratches or marks on the defendant showing she fought back, while she was being attacked or cut.

The state said Dellick assaulted his wife and tried to make it look like a suicide attempt. Rebecca Dellick testified that Christopher grabbed her from behind, choked her unconscious a few times, and cut her thigh and ankle. The prosecuting attorney, Chuck Morrow, told jurors the femoral artery is at that location and suggested Dellick a former Marine would know that.

Rebecca Dellick told jurors that her husband stopped when she agreed to go to the courthouse and sign over custody over their daughter. She said, "I was too afraid to leave, or run. I didn't feel like I could." Dellick had sought help from Someplace Safe during their marriage.

A jury is expected to begin deliberations after closing arguments Thursday morning. The case is in Trumbull Common Pleas Judge Andrew Logan's courtroom.