Mayhem: Victim recalls brutal beating involving a hammer and blowtorch
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IDAHO FALLS — Court documents detail the savage beating of a 20-year-old by a 41-year-old Idaho Falls man, where the suspect allegedly used a claw hammer and a blowtorch on the victim’s face.
Thomas James Cota is facing felony mayhem and felony aggravated battery. If he is found guilty, Cota faces up to 29 years in prison.
According to court documents, on March 4, deputies with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office interviewed the 20-year-old victim about a savage beating he endured on March 1.
The victim stated that while at a residence in Bonneville County, Cota had accused the victim of stealing his mother’s ashes, which he denied doing.
The victim recalled that Cota had told everyone to leave the room they were in, and that’s when the beating occurred.
The document states the victim was struck on the left side of his face with a claw hammer and on his head, legs, ankle and hand. The victim’s eye was struck by the hammer, causing it to protrude, but was punched back in it’s socket by Cota.
At some point, the victim recalled passing out from the pain. A blowtorch was used on the victim’s face, according to the document.
The victim heard Cota telling another person, who was armed with a firearm, that they should take him to the foothills. Later, he heard Cota ask the other person for the firearm, but it wasn’t handed over.
The document states that the man with the firearm had told Cota that the victim had not taken his mother’s ashes.
The 20-year-old believed that if Cota had been given the gun, he would’ve been shot.
The home’s owner later intervened and ordered everyone to leave the property.
A follow-up with the victim days later allowed a detective to document the injuries the victim sustained from the beating.
From that report, the victim required 16 staples, his right eyeball was a dark red color with bruising around the eye, a sprained ankle and hand, three nasal bone fractures and facial trauma. The victim can only see halfway from his right eye.
An arrest warrant was issued for Cota on March 5, and on March 25, he appeared before Senior Judge Keith Walker.
Cota is scheduled for a preliminary hearing before Magistrate Judge Tawnya Rawlings at 1 p.m. on April 8.
Though Cota has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.