Idaho woman recounts Thanksgiving Day beating

An Idaho woman testified that her abusive boyfriend beat her on Thanksgiving and enlisted her toddler to help torture her.

The Times-News reports 36-year-old David Gifford of Burley faces charges of felony domestic battery, injury to a child and attempted strangulation. His girlfriend took the witness stand Friday in Cassia County and recounted an attack in which she says she was punched, kicked and strangled.

The woman said Gifford stabbed her with a steak knife and gave a knife to her toddler and got him to stab her, too.

Gifford’s attorney, Peter Wells, asked the woman if she had struck Wells in the face that day, causing a black eye. She acknowledged it. Moreover, Wells contended that the woman’s story differed from the version she told deputies after the incident.

But the judge said he found the woman’s testimony credible and there was enough evidence to warrant felony charges. Gifford will be arraigned Jan. 23.