Alleged Kidnapper Held As Dangerous

CHATHAM – A judge has ruled that a 46-year-old Chatham man accused of stabbing and kidnapping his girlfriend will remain behind bars for now.

 A dangerousness hearing was held last week for Gary S. McKenzie, with Orleans District Court Judge Robert A. Welsh, III, ordering the suspect to remain behind bars for another three months at the Barnstable County House of Correction pending his trial. The case is under review by the Cape and Islands District Attorney’s Office for a potential indictment.

 On March 3, a woman reported to Harwich police that McKenzie, her boyfriend, had stabbed her while threatening her and would not let her leave the premises while the two were in Chatham. The woman was taken to Cape Cod Hospital for a deep cut to her chest and slices to her hand that she told police she incurred while trying to fend off her attacker’s kitchen knife. Meanwhile, police launched a manhunt to find McKenzie, and ultimately did so early the following morning in South Chatham near the Harwich line. 

 According to court documents, the woman told police that she and McKenzie had been dating since last October and that when they had arguments, “he would grow violent as he carried on.” She told investigators that she was often forced to stay at his home “longer than she wished as he became threatening to her and her family. She would stay to appease him and out of fear,” Chatham Police Lieut. Sarah Harris wrote in her report. The woman also described a previous incident where McKenzie allegedly “hit her on the head multiple times with a half-full bottle of Bailey’s Liquor,” causing her to be treated at the hospital with “stitches and rods and a concussion, but did not disclose how it happened to hospital staff.”

 In the March 3 incident, the alleged victim told police that she was stabbed just before 10 a.m. “and spent the next few hours trying to talk to him, lie to him to calm him, appease him, and negotiate for her life. He would not let her leave and no one was around to help her.” Eventually, the woman received a phone call from her boss at a local employer and used that call to convince McKenzie that she needed to leave for work; he had her drive him to a local liquor store to buy two bottles, dropped him off in South Chatham and then headed to her job, “still too fearful to make any report.” The woman worked until about 6 p.m. at which point she went to the Harwich police station to report the crime.

 Police spoke to McKenzie by phone, who threatened to kill himself before hanging up. He later called the police “stating that he was going to turn himself in to police but wanted to tell his side of the story.” Investigators tracked the location of the call and found him after a short foot pursuit.

 The alleged victim, whom The Chronicle is not naming, is said to be recovering from her wounds.

 At his arraignment, McKenzie pleaded not guilty to assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, threatening to commit a crime, witness intimidation, kidnapping, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury, assault and battery on a family or household member and resisting arrest. He was held pending a March 10 dangerousness hearing, at which point he was ordered held for 120 days’ pretrial detention. A pretrial hearing is set for April 9.

 The day after the March 3 incident, the court was also notified that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had issued an arrest warrant for McKenzie for an immigration detainer. The detainer asks the Barnstable County Sheriff’s Office to notify them before any possible release of the suspect, giving time for federal officials to take him into custody in accordance with federal immigration law. Officials say they would not expect any action to take place on the federal warrant until the criminal case is resolved.