An Oak Harbor woman who was murdered this week suffered a prolonged, severe beating “akin to torture,” Island County Chief Criminal Prosecutor Eric Ohme said in court Wednesday.

Police officers knocked on her apartment door Monday night and were met by a 13-year-old boy who said his mom wouldn’t wake up. They discovered the body of 35-year-old Chanell L. Saddler propped up on her bed, according to a report by Detective Sg. Jennifer Gravel with the Oak Harbor Police Department.

The charges against her husband, 31-year-old Phadell D. Saddler, allege long-term domestic abuse. Prosecutors charged him Oct. 10 with murder in the second degree and two counts of assault in the fourth degree. All charges are considered domestic violence crimes.

In addition, prosecutors allege two “aggravating factors” with the murder charge. Specifically, one aggravating factor is that the murder involved domestic violence that was part of an ongoing pattern of psychological, physical and severe abuse of the victim manifested by multiple incidents over a prolonged period of time.

Also, the prosecution alleges that the murder was domestic violence committed within sight or sound of minor children.

Saddler appeared in Island County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon.

Ohme asked Judge Christon Skinner to set Saddler’s bail at $1 million based on the likelihood that he may commit a violent offense or flee prosecution. Ohme pointed to the brutality of the crime, which he alleged took place over a period of time and was committed within earshot of a toddler and a 13-year-old child. Her children likely heard her scream in pain and terror, he said.

Ohme said Saddler had packed his car to leave town and had a shotgun in the trunk when police arrested him.

Saddler’s attorney, Matt Montoya, asked the judge to set bail at $500,000, although he pointed out that his client wouldn’t be able to post either amount. He said his client recently took a job delivering packages for Amazon.

Skinner set bail at $750,000, which he said was a compromise.

On Monday night, a man in Tennessee contacted the Oak Harbor police to report that he heard through a third person that a man confessed to killing a woman and wanted to shoot himself. Officers went to the provided address, which was at the Lexy Manor Apartments on Northeast Seventh Avenue.

The teenage boy answered the door and closed it when he saw the police. The officers continued knocking and the child returned, saying, “Help, my mom won’t wake up.” The police entered the apartment and found the woman’s body in the primary bedroom. A machete was located under a mattress and knives were found in a nightstand.

The officers also located the toddler in the apartment.

The teenager told officers that Saddler lived there but wasn’t home. He said Saddler and his mother fought often. He said he often heard yelling and banging coming from the bedroom. Once Saddler showed him a punching bag in the bedroom and claimed the banging noise was from his working the bag, but the boy knew it was a lie, the report states.

The boy said he heard banging that night and the sound of his mother “yelping” and a scream. A neighbor also reported hearing yelling and banging that night.

At about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, an officer arrested Saddler at gunpoint when he had returned to the apartment “to get something,” the police report indicates.

That morning, a judge approved a warrant to search the apartment and recover the body. The detective noted significant bruising on the woman’s body, as well as a broken and severely disfigured arm.

The police report states that officers were called to the apartment four times in the last year for reports of suspected domestic violence, but nobody was arrested.

Oak Harbor Police Capt. Kevin Barton said the ongoing investigation revealed details about earlier domestic violence in the home that were previously unknown to police.