RACINE COUNTY, WI (CBS 58) -- A Salem man is in jail today and is facing attempted homicide charges after allegedly trying to kill his wife and himself by crashing their car into a tree.

According to a Racine County Sheriff’s Office, the man, 39-year-old Justin Sampsel, was in the passenger seat of the vehicle being driven by his wife when he grabbed the steering wheel, turning the vehicle off the road into a tree.  According to the report, when the wife called 911 she told authorities that Sampsel had said he hoped she crashed and killed them both.

When deputies arrived at the crash scene near Racine CTH J and CTH A around 10:45 PM, they found a vehicle with heavy front end damage against a tree.   The airbags had deployed and Sampsel was not injured.   His 40-year-old wife suffered some non-life threatening injuries and was taken to the Aurora Memorial Hospital in Burlington.

Justin Sampsel was taken to the Racine County Jail and a charge of Attempted First Degree Intentional Homicide was forwarded to the district attorney’s office.