The Alaska man accused of attempting to murder his wife by trying to crash their car in Lyons is being held on $100,000 bond after making his first appearance in court Tuesday.
Rodney David Burba Jr., 34, of Ketchikan, Alaska, now awaits a formal filing of charges on Thursday. He was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted second-degree murder, obstruction of telephone services, reckless endangerment and littering.
Boulder Deputy District Attorney Karen Peters said Burba and his 32-year-old wife are separated but were in Colorado for therapy. According to an arrest affidavit, Burba’s wife was driving them to Lyons at around 4:15 p.m. Dec. 24 when Burba’s wife said he had an anxiety attack, consumed some edible marijuana gum and told her to call the police.
The wife told investigators Burba, who was in the front passenger seat, grabbed the steering wheel and tried to steer them into oncoming traffic or off a cliff about five times. She said Burba was “talking crazy,” and said things such as “We could go off the cliff right now and go to heaven,” and threatened to molest their 4-year-old daughter.
Despite Burba’s insistence that she call police, his wife said that he grabbed the phone from her when she initially tried. Burba told deputies he had grabbed the steering wheel but denied he was trying to kill himself or his wife.
For more on this story, .
