In 2017, one Michigan mom never dreamed her husband could cheat on her. So when she discovered he was having an affair, her life was completely turned upside down. But what happened next left her blindsided…
Amanda and her husband James Philip Chelekis worked hard to build a life together and provide for their two children. Together, they bought a house in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Amanda worked as a nurse and James worked as a middle school teacher.
No matter what challenges life threw their way, Amanda was always thankful she was married to a good person and was in a good marriage. The mother of 2 always believed she could count on James for anything, but in June 2017, everything changed…
On the night of June 26, 2017, Amanda’s life was turned upside down when she discovered evidence that her 32-year-old husband had been having an affair. When she finally confronted James, Amanda’s worst fear was confirmed. James had cheated on her and destroyed her trust.
Amanda had heard countless stories about husbands cheating on their wives, but she never imagined it would one day happen to her. For the rest of the evening, the couple discussed the issue that put their marriage and the life they built together in question…
Despite what had happened, neither Amanda nor James wanted to walk away from their marriage. They owed it to themselves and their 2 daughters to give their relationship a second chance. By the end of the night, the couple agreed to go to marriage counseling to see if their marriage could be salvaged.
During the discussion, Amanda had tried to find out as much information as possible. Like when the affair began, how long James had been unfaithful to her, who was the woman, and were there any others? James seemed to be telling the truth, but there was one question he refused to answer…
No matter how many times Amanda asked, James refused to tell her who the other woman was that he had an affair with. Amanda couldn’t understand why James would tell her everything else but this one detail. She didn’t know it at the time, but James had another dirty secret.
Amanda decided not to press the issue any further and wait until they went to counseling. All the other information she had learned earlier that night was hard for her to wrap her head around. So when their discussion finally ended, Amanda had to get some space…
Amanda was sitting on her own trying to process everything, but at around 5 a.m. on the morning of June 27, James came up behind her. “He came out of the closet behind me, my head was tipped back resting on the back of the chair with my eyes closed,” Amanda explained.
“Standing behind me, he kissed my forehead and slit my throat from one side to the other,” said Amanda, who then tried to fight her husband off by grabbing the knife, which gave her bad wounds on her hands in addition to the gaping cut across her neck…
While Amanda was lying on the floor, Chelekis began reading out bible verses while she begged him to call 911. “At one point, he laid next to me, and said, ‘This is the end,’” Amanda said about the moment she truly thought she was going to die.
Because Amanda is a registered nurse, she knew that she had to stop herself from bleeding out if she wanted to survive. Amanda was able to contain the bleed and positioned her body so that the blood from the neck wound didn’t block her airways…
“He asked why I hadn’t bled out yet. I was constantly praying to find a way to live,’’ Amanda explained. Even though she was doing her best to slow the bleeding, Amanda knew she would need to get to a hospital as soon as possible or she would die.
“I told him I was going to die very soon if he didn’t do something and he would regret it the rest of his life,” said Amanda, who was still blindsided by the attack and couldn’t understand why Chelekis would do such a thing. But when he picked up the phone, she finally understood his motive…
Chelekis grabbed his phone and called the girl he had been having an affair with, who Amanda then learned was a 14-year-old student at Crestwood Middle School where he was a math teacher. “He went from being a good person in a good marriage to attempting to murder me to cover this relationship with the student up,” Amanda said.
About 55 minutes after the attack, the 14-year-old finally managed to convince Chelekis to call for an ambulance. Shortly after, local police officers arrived at the home. They rushed Amanda to the hospital and took Chelekis into custody for the attempted murder of his wife…
After starting the investigation, police learned about Chelekis’ sexual relationship with the 14-year-old and found proof in the form of text messages and photos that the relationship had been going on for about a year and a half. Police then charged Chelekis with attempted murder and two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct against a child. When the 14-year-old’s mother was notified about what had been going on, she was horrified but it made sense.
“She went from having lots of friends to no friends,’’ the girl’s mother explained in a letter that was read in court. “Somehow James managed to manipulate her to where he was the only one she trusted, which resulted in total isolation from activities and friends and an inappropriate relationship with him. He robbed our daughter of her innocence and childhood. And that is something that she can never get back…’’
During the trial, Chelekis’ lawyer tried to argue that his actions were caused by an untreated mental illness, but Kent County Circuit Court Judge Paul Sullivan didn’t believe it. “I don’t buy this mental health stuff. That’s not snapping because of some kind of an emotional event that happens. And then what happens when you are confronted with this affair by your spouse? You end up slicing her throat,” Sullivan said. “You did want her to die, you expected her to die, you wondered why it was taking so long to die.”
Chelekis, who wept in court throughout the trial, ended up pleading guilty to all the charges brought against him. “I am truly sorry for how I failed and hurt people that I care about,’’ Chelekis said. “I will never stop trying to say I’m sorry and apologize.’’
Judge Sullivan sentenced Chelekis to 15 to 40 years for the sexual assaults and 30 to 60 years for the attempted murder. “Someday when it is developmentally appropriate, I have to tell my children their father is not with us because he tried to kill me,” Amanda said.
