SUMMIT TWP — A man is being held in the county prison without bail after state police said he attacked his ex-fiancée with a hatchet Tuesday morning at her home.

The hatchet still was in the woman's forehead when troopers found her about 7 a.m. at the family's farmhouse on the 600 block of Bonniebrook Road.

The woman, believed to be in her 20s or 30s, was to undergo surgery at a Pittsburgh hospital Tuesday afternoon. She was admitted in critical condition. Police described the injuries as “life threatening.”

Troopers arrested Dean J. Law, 29, of Apollo, Armstrong County, a short time after they were called to the house, which sits off the road at the end of a long stone-and-dirt driveway.

He was found in a pickup truck in a field on the property. Inside the truck, police said, were “multiple weapons,” including guns.

Upon being taken into custody, police said, he told troopers he “feels better” because he just “released some stress.”

District Judge Lewis Stoughton arraigned Law on felony charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and trespass and a misdemeanor charge of false identification to law enforcement.

Bail denied

Citing the danger Law posed to society, Stoughton denied him bail.

Police suspect Law entered the home uninvited while the victim was in her upstairs bedroom.

Law and the victim recently had broken up, investigators said, but they declined to comment further about their relationship. They noted, however, that he was not permitted on the property.

Three troopers found the woman in the house, police said, “with a hatchet lodged in the front of her skull.” But despite her injuries, she identified her alleged assailant.

Police said she told them that she was lying on the bed when Law appeared in her bedroom and hit her in the head with the hatchet.

The woman lives at the home with her father, stepmother and multiple siblings, police said. None of the other family members witnessed the alleged assault.

Her father called 911 to report what happened. East Butler Ambulance tended to the woman before she was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital, where a medical helicopter flew her to Allegheny General Hospital.

While Trooper Robert Rottman was conducting preliminary interviews at the scene, family members shouted, “There he is.” Rottman said he turned and saw a red pickup traveling through a field toward the house.

The truck stopped, and police identified Law as the driver. In the truck, which Law owns, police said, was a female passenger. The passenger, described as Law's friend, is not being charged.

At the time he was detained, Law allegedly made the comments about feeling better and releasing stress.

Weapons found in truck

When police took the passenger out of the truck, they said they noticed at least two guns and other “weapons” in the cab. They did not say what those weapons were.

Authorities took Law to the barracks in Butler Township, where he allegedly signed a false name on the form that acknowledged police had read his Miranda warnings.

“Law informed us that he was dreaming and woke up to being in handcuffs with the police,” according to Rottman's affidavit.

He also claimed “he had no idea how he ended up in Butler County and had no idea who lived at the residence where the incident occurred,” the affidavit said.

Additionally, he insisted he did not know the victim's name. But police said they showed him photos of himself with the victim from his Facebook page.

Upon seeing the photos, investigators said, he subsequently acknowledged she was his ex-fiancée.

Moments later, police ended the interview when Law told them he wanted to “plead the Fifth,” court documents said, meaning he was invoking his rights against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Police also interviewed the passenger with the defendant, and she identified the hatchet used in the alleged assault as the same one that she saw at his home.

Law's preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for June 23.