Maine Satanic Ritual Ordeal: Husband Accused of Slashing Wife's Hand for Forced Wedding

A man accused of forcing his wife into a 'Satanic ritual' marriage and slashing her hand was arrested at a busy restaurant in Newington, New Hampshire, on Saturday morning after the terrified woman fled into the arms of waiting officers, according to police.

The case, centred on 47-year-old Daniel Ouellet of Lee, New Hampshire, has been described by prosecutors as a violent campaign of coercion that unfolded across two US states and ended with a dramatic rescue at an Olive Garden branch.

Woman Tells Police: 'She Was Threatened With Harm'

According to the arrest affidavit, the woman ran from the Olive Garden as soon as she spotted police vehicles pulling into the car park, crying as she approached officers and immediately asking for an emergency protective order against Ouellet.

Officers said they noticed what appeared to be cigarette burns on her legs. She also told them she had been kept under control, without access to her phone, and threatened with harm to herself and her family if she tried to leave.

Investigators say the woman went on to describe a series of incidents over several days, in which Ouellet allegedly used a handgun and occult language to force her into marriage and a so‑called Satanic ritual.

She told police that more than a week earlier, Ouellet had contacted her in Pennsylvania and threatened to hurt her and her relatives if she did not travel to meet him in New England.

Once she arrived, she said, Ouellet put a handgun in his pocket and told her they would go to the Town Hall in Lee, New Hampshire, and get married 'or he will make her pay.'

The paperwork seen by local outlets WMUR and WJCL states that on the Friday before the Olive Garden rescue, Ouellet allegedly made the woman drive him around while he sat in the passenger seat with a loaded gun pointed at her, claiming that 'religious cults were following them.'

The following morning, in Kittery, Maine, prosecutors say he grabbed her wrist and cut her hand with a box cutter 'to go forward with what she described as a satanic ritual.'

What Police Say They Found

By the time police caught up with the pair in Newington, officers say there were already signs of a wider public safety concern. In Lee, where Ouellet lives, the case had triggered a shelter‑in‑place order after authorities learned he had access to weapons.

Newington officers who searched his vehicle after the arrest reported finding a copy of 'The Satanic Bible', along with a sweatshirt and bag. They also say Ouellet insisted to them that the woman was his 'wife' and that the pair had simply been having a meal together.

According to his account, relayed in court records, she was upset because 'her mother was attempting to force her to join a religious cult back in Pennsylvania.'

Prosecutors, however, set out a far darker picture in court. They told a judge that Ouellet's criminal history already included convictions for domestic violence and drink‑driving offences, and argued he had used a deadly weapon to prevent the woman from reporting a crime.

He has been charged in New Hampshire with using a deadly weapon to stop someone contacting police, with more charges expected. Court records also indicate he faces charges in neighbouring Maine.

The woman has been granted an emergency protective order.

Accused Husband Denies 'Satanic Ritual' Allegations

Appearing in court, Ouellet strongly denied the claims against him and tried to distance himself from the violent picture painted in the charging documents.

'If you talk to anybody that knows me, I'm not a physical man,' he told WMUR in a video of his arraignment. 'I'm very pristine and, you know, forcing her into marriage, that's completely against my religious belief. I totally believe in free will, and I have never been aggressive with her in ways that were described on that paper.'

In a separate comment to the station, he added: 'I just don't feel that that was completely her statement. I believe the charges were erroneous.'

As of this writing, none of the allegations has been tested at trial, and Ouellet remains presumed innocent.

The alarm was first raised hundreds of miles away in Pennsylvania. Court documents state that Pennsylvania State Police received a desperate call from a woman who was tracking her daughter's phone and saw it had stopped outside the Newington restaurant, near the New Hampshire border.

Officers were dispatched to check on the pair and, according to court documents cited by local outlets, the woman sprinted out of the restaurant and straight towards police, asking for an emergency restraining order.