Florida Boater Tries to Kill Wife at Sea — She Clings to Boat and Survives

A snapped line during a fishing trip set off a Florida boater who attempted to kill his wife and dump her body at sea. However, police say the bloodied victim clung to the back of the boat and was dragged to shore alive.

On Sunday, 60-year-old Douglas Naeher and his unnamed spouse of three years departed in their boat 33 miles off the coast of Bean Point.

According to court documents, the victim told the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office that the husband seemed irritable and stern when they pushed off from their private dock at their Holmes Beach pad.

The 60-year-old was in a violent, evil rage when his fishing line broke while he was casting off from a “bean bag chair” on the back of the 30-foot Sterling boat.

According to court documents, the victim jumped into the water to escape being attacked, holding a rope attached to the boat and floating with a pool noodle.

The victim told police that Naeher untied the rope and sped off, apparently abandoning his wife to perish at sea, but he later came back to retrieve her after spotting another boat in the distance.

She claimed that after climbing back on board, Naeher repeatedly punched her in the head and then repeatedly stomped on her head with both feet as she collapsed to the deck.

According to court documents, the battered wife claimed that she pretended to be dead in order to appease Naeher, but he persisted in his attack, dragging her by the hair to the back of the boat where he tried to strangle and drown her in the water.

Naeher allegedly yelled, “I’m going to kill you,” as she submerged her head and used both hands to choke her neck.

He allegedly ran from the scene, thinking he had abandoned her in the deep sea. However, the woman persisted in her struggle for survival and refused to accept the watery grave.

The unnamed woman told police that she was able to follow the boat while gasping for air by locking her feet around a ladder that was fastened to the back of the boat.

When Naeher suddenly stopped, she managed to use the ladder to climb back onto the boat.

But according to court documents, the callous husband saw her battered body, continued to punch and stomp on her, and then pushed her back overboard.

The woman held on to the back of the boat for a second time, this time tying herself up by the ankle with a line hanging from the back of the craft.

Unaware that he had pulled his bloodied intended victim back to their Holmes Beach residence, the 60-year-old went to shore and docked his boat.

As the boat docked, the courageous survivor managed to drag herself on board a third time and quickly escaped her husband’s grasp, heading for the Holmes Beach Police Department.

Her injuries at Blake Hospital included a severe concussion, several contusions, bruises on her arms and neck, and a right eye that was swollen shut.

According to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, Naeher was taken into custody on Monday and faces charges of attempted first-degree murder.