LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB/AP) -- An Australian investment banker who fled to his ex-wife's house in Bullitt County after chaining a fake bomb to a teenager's neck has appeared in court for a sentencing hearing.
Paul Peters could face up to 20 years in prison for the August 2011 attack on Madeleine Pulver. She was alone studying in her family's Sydney mansion when Peters, wearing a ski mask, tethered a bomb-like device around her neck, along with a note demanding money. It the took the bomb squad ten hours to remove it, only to find out it was fake.
Peters was arrested almost two weeks after the crime at his ex-wife's house in Buckner.
Peters pleaded guilty in New South Wales state District Court in March to aggravated breaking and entering and to committing a serious indictable offense.
Peters' ex-wife, Deborah Peters, testified on Friday that her husband had become erratic and he was drinking heavily in the months before the attack.
The hearing could take several days.
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