Husband dies crashing plane into his own house in apparent bid to kill wife

A WOMAN-BEATER has died after he intentionally crashed a plane into his own home today in what is believed to have been a deranged bid to kill his wife, police said.

Duane Youd, from Payson, Utah, US, carried out the astonishing attack just hours after he had been arrested for assaulting his wife.

His partner and a child, who were in the home at the time of the attack, managed to escape despite the front part the two-story house being engulfed in flames, police Sgt. Noemi Sandoval said.

The crash occurred about 2:30 am today in Payson, a city of about 20,000 residents 60 miles south of Salt Lake City.

Investigators believe the plane belonged to Youd's employer and that he intentionally flew into his own house, Sandoval said.

He was an experienced pilot, she said. It wasn't immediately clear who employed Youd.

It's unknown if the child in the house is related to Youd, Sandoval said.

Youd was arrested about 7.30pm on Sunday after witnesses called cops to report that hewas assaulting his wife, police said.

The couple had been drinking and went to American Fork Canyon to talk about problems they were having.

Youd was booked into jail on suspicion of domestic violence and then bailed out, authorities said.

He requested an officer escort to go to his home so he could get his truck and some belongings around midnight.

That occurred without incident, Sandoval said.

Within hours, Youd was taking off in the plane from the Spanish Fork-Springville Airport about 15 miles north of his house.

He flew directly to his neighbourhood and smashed into his house, Sandoval said.

Photos of the wreckage showed the white plane charred and in pieces in the front yard nearby an overturned and crushed car.

Most of the house was still intact although the front of the building was burned heavily.

Police had responded one previous time to the house on a domestic violence incident, Sandoval said.

Online court records show that Youd agreed on July 23 to attend marriage and family counselling sessions for six months as part of a plea agreement following an April 8 domestic violence incident.

On that occasion he was charged with disorderly conduct.