A man in the District is now able to be at his wife’s side at the hospital as she recovers from a brutal beating, but he may still be under suspicion.
David Guggenhiem, a marine biologist of Northwest Washington alleges he discovered his wife, Svetlana, severely beaten after returning from a business trip last April.
However, police have acted as if Guggenheim is a suspect in the case, and barred Guggenheim and his stepdaughter from visiting his wife at the hospital for several weeks.
Investigators say they became interested in Guggenheim after his wife allegedly gave a hospital nurse a note indicating it was her husband that had hurt her.
Svetlana suffered a traumatic brain injury and is unable to talk because of a tracheotomy tube.
But Guggenheim says his relationship with his wife has never been violent, and expressed his frustration in regards to not being able to visit his wife on The Today Show Wednesday morning.
In an interview with Matt Lauer, Guggenheim said “…it is unfathomable… this was inhumane to allow Svetlana to be waking up from this sort of injury isolated from the people she needs the most around her: her husband and her daughter.”
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Family members say Svetlana does not remember implicating her husband and has since make statements clearing his name.
Guggenheim is apparently still under suspicion. He says he came home to his residence on Tuesday night and found police searching his apartment.
Stay with NBCWashington.com and NBC4 for updates on this developing story.
