John Dimmig (via Palm Beach County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office).
A Florida man is facing multiple charges — including attempted murder — after allegedly barging into a vacation rental with a metal baseball bat and beating a man who he believed had been in bed with his wife.
John Dimmig, 33, is accused of assaulting a man who had reportedly invited Dimmig’s wife, Christie Barbato, back to his Airbnb rental in Lake Worth Beach. The victim, whose name was redacted from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, told investigators he was in town from Arizona working as a “travel CT Technician,” and that he and Barbato were co-workers.
The victim told investigators that “while he was in the bed with Barbato, he heard the front door of the residence open,” the affidavit says. “[He] stated that he then got up to see who it was. [The victim] stated that when he got to the living room, he saw a male running at him with a bat. [The victim] further advised that the male charged at him and pinned him to the ground and hit him three times with an aluminum bat.”
Barbato told investigators that she “had been laying down in bed in the bedroom of the apartment with her coworker, whom she had known since January of 2023,” at around 10:00 p.m. on June 17.
“Barbato stated that she heard the front door open, at which time she observed her husband, whom she identified as John Dimmig, enter the front door of the apartment with an aluminum bat,” the affidavit says. “Barbato stated that upon entering the apartment, Dimmig started swinging the bat at [the victim], whom she saw fall to the floor with blood coming from his head. Barbato stated that Dimmig did not say anything to either party before swinging the bat, but that afterwards he said something to the effect of ‘Don’t come near my f—— wife again!’ before leaving the apartment through the front door.”
Barbato apparently intervened in the attack, pulling Dimmig off the victim.
“I felt like he was out to kill me,” the victim told deputies when asked what he thought would have happened if Barbato hadn’t stopped her husband.
The attack appears to have been a bloody one, according to the affidavit.
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“Upon arrival, I observed the living room of the apartment with covered in blood, with streaks leading into the bedroom located at the north part of the apartment,” the document said. “In the bedroom, I observed a white male, later identified [as the victim] laying on his back holding a towel on the top of his head, which was bleeding heavily.”
Part of the incident was captured on video belonging to the Airbnb property owner. According to the affidavit, the video “showed a male walk into the residence while holding a bat” and closing the door behind him shortly before 10:00 p.m.
“Moments later, screaming could be heard coming from inside the residence, with a female voice screaming ‘John! Stop! He’s bleeding!”” the affidavit said. In a separate video from around that time, “the male can be heard screaming ‘Piece of s—! F— you!’ [and is then] seen leaving the residence and walking towards the road.”
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After Barbato identified her husband as the attacker, investigators went to the home she shared with Dimmig, the affidavit says. There, investigators located Dimmig and recovered clothing that appeared to have blood on it, as well as an aluminum bat.
“I observed the bat, and found that there were small hairs embedded in the larger portion of the bat, which is usually used to hit with,” the affidavit says.
Dimmig reportedly denied carrying out the attack, telling investigators that he hadn’t gone to Lake Worth Beach that day. He also denied ever striking anyone with the bat and refused to consent to a search of his phone records.
Court records show that Dimmig has pleaded not guilty to the charges and that he has a court appearance scheduled for July 17.
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