BROWNSTOWN – A Jackson County Circuit Court jury Friday evening found a Seymour man guilty of entering a woman’s home on August 19, 2019.
The jury found 45-year-old Matthew Gillaspy guilty of a Level 6 felony charge of residential entry, but not guilty on felony charges of attempted aggravated battery, and burglary
A sentencing date was not set.
Gillaspy was arrested after he broke into the woman’s house, entered the woman’s bedroom and used a trash bag in an attempt to suffocate the woman. The alleged trash bag used to cover the woman’s face was never found by Seymour police who investigated the case. The woman and Gillaspy were in the middle of a divorce and the final divorce settlement had been reached just before the incident.
Gillaspy entered the home at 2 a.m. that night and said the reason it was late was that he was debating on whether he should go.
Gillaspy said he entered the home through the back door, took his shoes off because that was customary in the homes he had lived in, went into the doorway of the bedroom and the woman woke. He denied having a trash bag when he entered the home.
Police say Gillaspy parked his vehicle across the street one house over because there were other cars parked in the road on the side he was driving on. Gillaspy then had one of his children unlock a back door letting Gillaspy into the house.
 The woman told police she struggled until she screamed and Gillaspy stopped. At the time of the incident, another child had been asleep with her in the bed.
Gillaspy denied attempting to injure his ex-wife.
When arrested, Gillaspy admitted to lying about how he entered into the home while he was being arrested because he entered his ex-wife’s home without permission.
He told police the reason he entered the home was to talk to his ex-wife in person, rather than on the phone or over texts.
