A Saylorsburg man faces charges of attempted homicide and aggravated assault after police said he hit his wife in the head with a hammer.

State police at Lehighton were called to a home Saturday at 9:45 a.m. in the 300 block of Hawk Road in Ross Township, where a woman told police that her husband, Marshall Wesley Eldridge, 66, hit her in the head twice with a hammer.

According to an affidavit of probable cause filed by trooper Leo Petrucci, the victim had visible head wounds and was transferred to the Lehigh Valley Cedar Crest Hospital with a suspected skull fracture.

Eldridge’s hands were covered in blood and he had blood on his clothing.

“There was blood visible on the floor underneath the barstool chair Eldridge was sitting in,” Petrucci said in the affidavit. “A large pool of dried blood was visible on the floor in front of the portion of the patio door.”

There was also a blood smear on the refrigerator.

Eldridge admitted to hitting his wife with the hammer while she was standing at the sink getting a drink of water, but no motive is listed in the affidavit.

Police also interviewed a friend of the victim, who said he arrived at the house after the altercation and Eldridge told him he had tried to kill his wife.

“He repeated, ‘I’m a bad person’ several times,” the affidavit states.

In addition to attempted homicide and two counts of aggravated assault, Eldridge also faces one count each of possessing an instrument of crime, simple assault and reckless endangerment.

He is in Monroe County Correctional Facility after bail was denied during a Saturday night arraignment by Magisterial District Judge Brian Germano.

A preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Colleen Mancuso is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Jan. 3.