The iced tea made me do it.
That's the defense offered by lobbyist Gregory DeLozier, 35, who was charged with the attempted murder of his wife, Michelle. She was stabbed by a masked intruder Tuesday at a salon where she was having her hair done.
During a videotaped statement he gave police after his arrest, DeLozier said sediment in a bottle of iced tea he drank had weird side effects. That, coupled with the stress of an upcoming mortgage deal the couple was pursuing, made him snap, he said.
Police said DeLozier, the legislative director of the New Jersey Association of Realtors, put on a ski mask, sunglasses, a coat and gloves Tuesday, and went to the salon.
At the shop's back door, he held an 8-inch butcher knife to the throat of an employee and announced a robbery, police said. Once inside, the masked intruder took $40 from the shop owner, then turned toward Mrs. DeLozier, accusing her of helping put him in jail once, then stabbing her three times in the back, police said.
Police say the robbery attempt was an attempt to disguise the attack on Mrs. DeLozier.
DeLozier had worked for the Realtors' association for six years.
''Obviously, it's a great shock to everybody,'' Executive Vice President Walt Baczkowski said. ''He was here for a period of time and was very well known by the members.''
He was being held on $400,000 bail. She remained hospitalized in stable condition.
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