Female goes to the police to report years of abuse

| by Travis Uresk | April 7^th, 2026 |

Vernal, Utah—On March 22^nd, 2026, Detective Webb with the VPD took a report of multiple incidents of abuse that have been occurring over the past few years, with the most recent being about a month ago.

During the interview, the female made allegations of kidnapping and assault by the suspect, 34-year-old James Michael Smuin, who had slammed her head into a wall, causing a hole in the wall. The woman also stated that there are other holes in the home's walls, one of which is covered by a picture. The woman told the detective that the two additional holes were from James throwing cups across the room.

It was disclosed that James would throw dishes, cups, and plates at the female. She would try to dodge them, but would get hit in the face and body with the flying dishes. The children witnessed James and the female fighting and hitting her. They said sometimes they would hear James hit the female really hard, and she would come out of the bedroom with her face red and crying.

The woman told Detective Webb there was an incident around last November when James put the female in handcuffs and pinned her to the floor by lying on top of her. She stated that James let her move to a seated position, while still in handcuffs, and questioned her for about 20 minutes.

On April 1^st, 2026, Detective Webb interviewed James Smuin, and he admitted to slapping the victim and restraining her. When the detective asked him about the incident that occurred last November, James said he didn't recall ever putting the victim in handcuffs. He later changed his story and stated that it was possible that he pinned her to the floor and used handcuffs. He then changed his answer again and stated that he asked a child to grab the handcuffs, and then he put them on the female with her hands behind her back.

James claimed he had the victim in handcuffs on the floor anywhere between 20 seconds and 3 minutes.

James told the detective that he and the victim were not being physically aggressive during this incident, and it was only a verbal argument. He said the female was yelling at him when he placed her in handcuffs, and took them off when she calmed down. James said he didn't have the key, so he had a child retrieve it for him.

James made several statements during the interview about not fearing for his safety or the safety of others at the hands of the victim during the incident.

Smuin told Detective Webb he did leave marks on the victims somewhere between 5 and 10 times, and that while trying to grab her arms during an argument, he would unintentionally grab and pull her hair. He also said he has had to restrain the victim multiple times, but only once to the degree that he used handcuffs.

This time, it was James Smuin's turn to be placed in handcuffs, transported, and booked into the Duchesne County Jail.