Due to a conflict of interest in the Polk County Attorney’s Office, the case of a man accused of holding his wife captive in a basement and beating her will tried by the Marion County’s Attorney’s Office, at the request of the Polk County Attorney. The man, 39-year-old Mathew Sites of Des Moines, was arrested Sunday and has been charged with willful injury causing bodily injury, false imprisonment and domestic abuse assault. According to court documents, Sites allegedly held his wife in the basement of a home owned by his father in Des Moines for two days while he beat her with a metal flashlight and a wooden rolling pin, causing skull fractures. Law enforcement officers observed the victim to have severe bruising up and down her arms, two black eyes and other visible bruising on her face. An emergency room nurse told police that the victim’s injuries were the worst of its type the nurse had ever seen. The victim was eventually able to escape and call for help after Sites left the home on Thursday, October 3rd. Marion County Attorney Ed Bull tells KNIA/KRLS News in a statement, “The Marion County Attorney’s Office was contacted late last week and asked if we would handle the case on behalf of Polk County. We immediately accepted. Often times counties due to conflicts will ask another County to assist them. We recognize that Polk County could have asked anyone to assist them, and we are truly honored that they trusted us with the prosecution of this high profile and important litigation.” The state has requested a no contact order against Sites.