Courant.com | Lockdown In Search For Beating Suspect

Joseph Ambrose, 55, is charged with attempted murder, first-degree assault and first-degree kidnapping of his estranged wife.

Two of the couple’s four children were home while he beat his wife. Ambrose is a member of the local Canton (Connecticut) congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Police found several rifles at the rented house.

Joseph Ambrose was quoted in a story in The Courant in 1996 about the mission of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Those who join the church, the story said, must be committed to the faith.

“Your conduct has to be right in harmony with the Scriptures,” Ambrose said in the story. “Your morals have to be right in line.”

His estranged wife is now in stable condition and is being treated at Hartford Hospital.

Ambrose is still at large.