King County prosecutors have charged a 51-year-old Auburn man with attempted second-degree murder for allegedly trying to strangle his wife.

According to charging papers filed in King County Superior Court, Auburn police arrested Paramjit Singh Basra on July 27, after his hysterical daughter called 911 shortly before 7 a.m. to report that her father had attacked her mother, 39-year-old Harjinder Basra.

According to charging papers, the girl told the 911 operator that her father, a truck driver, had just returned to the family home in the 29500 block of 125th Avenue Southeast and pushed his hands up against his wife’s throat and killed her. The girl said that one point he had used a rope to try to kill her, his daughter, too, and she had locked herself in a bathroom.

When police arrived at the home, charging papers say, they found the door slightly ajar and Basra looking out at them. He then closed and locked the door. Police knocked and told him to come out, and he eventually did, according to charging papers.

As police placed handcuffs on Basra, according to the report, he said in broken English, “Ahh … ahh … the problem is, I killed my wife. She’s in the room to the right.”

According to the report, police found the woman lying on the floor by the foot of the bed in the upstairs master bedroom, warm, but unconscious and without a pulse. Medics restored a pulse and rushed her to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Police and prosecutors said it is too early to tell whether she suffered extensive brain damage.

When police tried to question Mr. Basra, he requested an attorney and the interrogation stopped at that point.

A subsequent police search of the Basra home found no signs of a struggle but did turn up a car charger cord lying on the bed.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Don Raz asked a judge to hold Mr. Basra on $1 million bail, arguing that he presents a clear danger to the public, and especially to his daughter. Raz said that owing to Harjinder Basra’s injuries, there’s a strong possibility her husband will soon face murder charges. Raz also argued that, with significant family ties to India, Basra represents a flight risk.