Salmon woman charged after reportedly stabbing man, throwing hatchet at him

SALMON – A 39-year-old woman was charged with a felony after she reportedly stabbed a man multiple times with a pen.

Trista Marie Eastman was charged with felony domestic battery with traumatic injury and misdemeanor use or possession with intent to use drug paraphernalia.

On Jan. 21, around 12:53 a.m., an officer with the Salmon Police Department responded to a home for an alleged domestic incident where a hatchet was involved, according to court documents.

When officers arrived, they interviewed the victim, who said he was watching TV with Eastman when she “flipped out and punched him in the chest.”

Eastman then reportedly kicked the victim in the leg, and he was able to stand up and attempt to leave. As he was leaving, she allegedly grabbed a pen and stabbed him in the back with it multiple times, according to police reports.

The victim told police that Eastman then grabbed a hatchet and “chased him down the hallway into the mudroom.”

In the mudroom, Eastman reportedly stabbed the victim in the face and arms before the victim was able to tackle her and bring her to the ground.

Police reports say Eastman continued to stab the victim in his legs with the pen before she eventually “ended up with the laundry basket on her head.”

The victim says he had to “brace his arm across Eastman’s chest and throat to get up and get away.” He then left through the back door, and Eastman allegedly threw a hatchet at him as he went out the door.

The hatchet struck a wall, and the victim was able to call 911, according to court documents.

According to the victim, he tried to record the fight, but due to a prior injury to his thumb, he was unable to press the record button.

While speaking with the victim, police say they saw “a couple of gashes across his face and nose area consistent with an instrument like a pen.”

According to police, the injuries were actively bleeding and appeared to be puncture wounds. The victim also showed officers marks on his legs that appeared to be stab wounds from a “thin pointed object.”

When officers looked at the victim’s back, they reportedly saw more injuries “consistent with slap and slash marks across the length of his back.” Officers say the injuries were consistent with defense-type wounds and were “open and seeping blood.”

When police interviewed Eastman, she gave a similar story, saying they were watching TV when “something was said on the show” that prompted her to punch the victim in the chest and attack him with a pen.

According to police, Eastman’s speech was slurred and she had difficulty maintaining a conversation.

She later admitted that she had been drinking alcohol. Officers also saw a torch and a bottle of butane on the table. When asked if she had been smoking marijuana, Eastman denied it.

Officers found the hatchet in the front room and a pink pen cap on the living room floor. The pen was found near a blue laundry basket on the laundry room floor.

According to officers, there were “tool marks” on the mudroom wall from where the hatchet had allegedly struck.

An officer noticed a lock on the front of a drawer on a table. When asked what was in the drawer, Eastman reportedly admitted that there was methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in it.

Officers got permission to open the drawer and found “various tools, scrapers, pipes and straws.” According to Eastman, she also admitted that the torch and butane lighter were used to smoke meth earlier that night.

She also told the officer that there was more drug paraphernalia in the bedroom and under the couch. Eastman was then arrested and booked into the Lemhi County Jail.

During booking, officers also found more drug paraphernalia and a clear plastic baggie containing methamphetamine in Eastman’s bra.

Eastman was booked with a bond of $10,000, posted bail, and was released to pretrial supervision on Jan. 22. A no-contact order was issued for the victim.

She is expected to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 5. If convicted, she could face up to 11 years in prison.

Though Eastman has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean she committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.