Tri-Cities

Bloomfield man accused of slitting infant daughter’s throat

DA files motion to keep in jail until he is tried
Joseph Bresch, 38, faces child abuse charges for reportedly slitting his infant daughter's throat in 2021.

A hearing Monday will decide whether a Bloomfield man accused of slitting his infant daughter’s throat will remain in jail until his trial.

Joseph Bresch, 38, is charged with two counts of first-degree child abuse resulting in great bodily injury in connection with an incident investigated in October 2021 by the Bloomfield Police Department.

Newly appointed District Judge Stephen Wayne will hear the evidence at 1:15 p.m. Monday and rule whether Joseph Bresch will remain in custody.

Joseph Bresch recently was released from the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas, where he served time for federal firearms charges. He was arrested on a bench warrant and booked June 5 into the San Juan County Detention Center. The San Juan District Attorney’s Office hopes to keep him there until his trial.

“We are trying to keep him in custody until we can prosecute,” said Chief Deputy District Attorney Dustin O’Brien.

Joseph Bresch “slit the throat of an infant child,” according to the state’s motion for pretrial detention, which described him as having “a significant violent propensity toward innocent and defenseless civilians.”

The motion states Joseph Bresch “will not be able to safely reside in the community if he is not detained.”

The violent acts allegedly perpetrated against Joseph Bresch’s 2-month-old daughter were described in a nine-page affidavit for arrest warrant that details what happened to the infant in the two weeks she lived with her parents.

She was born premature, and had been released from San Juan Regional Medical Center on Oct. 8, 2021, to Joseph and Michelle Bresch, 37, two weeks before she ended up back at the hospital in critical condition, according to the arrest affidavit.

Bloomfield Police discovered the abuse Oct. 24, 2021, when paramedics were called to the home in the 1100 block of Kathy Lynn in Bloomfield. The medics called dispatch to report the child’s injuries were “consistent with child abuse,” the says.

When the child arrived at San Juan Regional Medical Center, she was in critical condition, according to the affidavit.

The “visible” injuries on the infant included a “bruise to the left eye, burst blood vessels in the left eye, malformation similar to cauliflower ear on the left ear, splitting skin and laceration to the back of the left ear, blood around the mouth and nose, swollen nose and eyes, bruise on the left scapula, broken ribs, severe diaper rash and most concerning was a laceration across the anterior neck near the base of the jaw,” the affidavit states.

Doctors estimated the cut to the throat was about five days old and had been so deep “the underlying tissue and structures of the neck” were visible. It “exposed tissue of the esophagus and needed advanced treatment that only a hospital could provide,” according to the affidavit.

However, the mother, Michelle Bresch, told medical staff the laceration was “a birth defect and that it had been there since she came home the hospital,” the affidavit states.

The child was flown to Albuquerque for advanced care, and police began questioning Michelle and Joseph Bresch about the abuse.

Michelle Bresch reportedly told police that the neck laceration “was caused by milk that had crusted while she was swaddled, and then turned her head while fussing.” She also reportedly stated that the ear and nose injuries were from her “scratching herself,” the affidavit states.

Once the infant was in Albuquerque, doctors there notified Bloomfield Police that the infant suffered “30 fractures” including “approximately 20 broken ribs, both clavicles fractured, fractures in both arms and one finger.” They stated the injuries were “nonaccidental,” according to the affidavit.

Bloomfield Police made a report with Children’s Youth and Families and then returned to the Bresch home Oct. 25, 2021, to remove their 5-year-old son from their custody, at which time police stated that Michelle Bresch cried “hysterically” and “fell to the ground.” However she was “calm, slightly tearful, but did not seem overly upset or concerned” about the baby girl, the affidavit states.

After the older child was removed, investigators spoke with Joseph Bresch, who reportedly blamed the injuries on the 5-year-old and “motioned in a ‘I don’t know’ manner’” regarding the neck laceration, the affidavit states.

Bloomfield Police spoke with the infant’s doctor at UNM Hospital on Oct. 26, 2021, and she stated that the neck wound had to have been made “with a very sharp instrument or ligature,” and “there would be blood on it,” if police could locate it, the affidavit states.

Bloomfield Police were notified Oct. 27, 2021, by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that Michelle and Joseph Bresch would be arrested on federal warrants. Both were taken to the Bloomfield Police Department for further questioning.

Once separated from Joseph Bresch, Michelle Bresch told police that he “would frequently handle (the infant) in a ‘rough way,’ and when she wasn’t in the room with them, (his daughter’s) cry would change, sounding like “the sound ‘the puppy made when he would strangle the puppy.’ She also told police that she witnessed Joseph “strangle and kill three dogs and one cat,” according to the affidavit.

Michelle Bresch also said she was the victim of domestic abuse, adding that Joseph Bresch reportedly put “her head through the hallway wall.” Police later verified that the wall had been damaged, the affidavit says.

She also said that he “had instilled a fear in her and she felt like she could never leave.”

Michelle Bresch also told police that the infant’s throat laceration reportedly happened when she was in Sportsman’s Warehouse for about two hours and had left her in the car with Joseph Bresch and their 5-year-old son.

Joseph Bresch reportedly took the child into the store, but told Michelle Bresch that he didn’t know where the injury came from and then said the child’s brother “did it.”

This was the same story Joseph Bresch reportedly told police, that the 5-year-old had his “arm stretched out pushing against her chin and he heard (the child) saying ‘Sissy, it’s going to be OK,’” the affidavit states.

Joseph Bresch also reportedly told police there were several “instances where (the child) was being violent with (his daughter),” and that Michelle Bresch “couldn’t bring herself to believe her 5-year-old would hurt his baby sister.”

When the ATF took Joseph Bresch into custody, they reportedly “discovered a credit-card-size razor blade holder with a razor installed in Joseph’s wallet.” It was taken into evidence by Bloomfield Police. They also found a “white V-neck undershirt stained with apparent blood,” that reportedly belonged with Joseph Bresch, the affidavit states.