Ludwig Heads To Trial For Domestic Violence

The Greenville business man, who avoided prison time after crashing his car into a home and killing a man inside, is expected to be in court next week.

John Ludwig Jr. will appear this time on charges of criminal domestic violence beginning Monday. 

Ludwig, a former Furman University football player, 40, was arrested in November of 2011 when he allegedly threatened and struck his wife, Shannon. 

According to Greenville Police Department records, Ludwig had asked his wife to write a check for their mortgage during the argument. She told him that she would. The victim told police she then went up stairs to get ready to take a shower and the suspect came into the bathroom with her and was talking to his father on the phone.

The victim told police while she was running her bath water, Ludwig turned the water off. She turned the water back on and he slapped her in the back of the head, the report said.

At that time the victim said the suspect went downstairs and she believed he had left the home. She went downstairs to fix a bottle for their baby and he was in the kitchen. He then became verbally abusive, the report said. 

According to the report, the victim called her father, who in turn called the police. The victim left the home with her child and when police met her to talk about the incident at Embassy Suites, she told officers she didn't want Ludwig to go to jail, that he had "touched" her to get her attention.

As a result of the incident, he was arrested again for violating his probation. In January 2012, Ludwig's bond was revoked. At that time, he was ordered to three years in prison, to complete his probation started in August 2010 and to complete an anger management program.

Ludwig will be represented in the trial by attorney Kim Varner. The trial will not have a jury, as Ludwig selected a bench trial with Judge Lawton McIntosh.