By Fred Petke, fred.petke@winchestersun.com

A Winchester couple charged with two separate assaults waived a probable cause hearing Wednesday afternoon, sending the case to the grand jury.

James Scott Ball and his wife Elizabeth Ball, of 149 Winn Ave., were jailed Aug. 26 following a pair of incidents around their residence.

According to court documents, Winchester Police officers responded to a report of a stabbing outside the apartment just after midnight. They arrived to find John Johnson near Winn Avenue and Pendleton Street with multiple knife wounds. Johnson told officers “Scott” cut him several times, before officers followed a blood trail to the Balls’ apartment.

Inside the apartment, they found Frank Dunlap of Ohio in a back bedroom. Dunlap said the Balls kept him there against his will for several hours. He said James Ball and others beat him with a baseball bat, swung a hammer at him and threatened to kill him.

Dunlap said Elizabeth Ball taunted him repeatedly, saying “How does it feel now?”

Neighbors said they heard a man through the wall pleading for his life.

Following his arrest, James Ball told officers he stabbed Johnson because he was trying to cut his wife.

James Ball, 40, is facing two counts of second-degree assault, tampering with physical evidence, first-degree unlawful imprisonment and terroristic threatening.

Elizabeth Ball, 34, was charged with first-degree unlawful imprisonment.

Wednesday, the judge reduced Elizabeth Ball’s bond from 10 percent of $25,000 to 10 percent of $10,000. James Ball’s bond was amended to $25,000 cash or $50,000 property.

Contact Fred Petke at fred.petke@winchestersun.com or follow him on Twitter, @FredPetkeNews.