CASTLE ROCK - The wife of Denver's former top Secret Service agent cried Tuesday as she described her husband's eyes when she said he choked her last year.

They were "full of rage," said Christine Marie Garner, 51.

"He was crushing my airways with his thumbs. I couldn't believe it," she said in Douglas County District Court, where her husband, Lon Robert Garner, 57, is being tried on two counts of second-degree assault. Each count carries a minimum five- year sentence.

Christine Garner's testimony came on the first day of the trial. According to testimony, Lon Garner's extramarital affair led to family violence.

In his opening statement, Deputy District Attorney Colin McCallin talked about Garner's training in hand-to-hand combat as he described the altercation between the couple at their Elizabeth home on Jan. 4, 2006.

"He assaulted her with deadly weapons," McCallin said. "His own hands."

Christine Garner, now estranged from her husband, had confronted him about a credit card statement she believed showed he'd sent flowers to a woman with whom he'd admitted to having an affair.

Lon Garner's attorney, Craig Truman, said his client was trying to calm his wife and that she tried to strike him several times.

The argument ended when their 21-year-old son said he saw his father choking his mother.

"I went after him as soon as I saw him," said Lon Garner Jr., a Navy petty officer. "I ran after him and punched him on the side of the head and wrestled him to the ground."

Christine Garner, who testified that she kicked her husband in the groin after his son punched him, was initially charged with third-degree assault. The charge was dismissed.

Lon Garner, who is free on $50,000 bail, was put on paid administrative leave after his arrest.

morenoi@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2895