Former Bush lawyer arrested

A onetime senior attorney to former American President George W. Bush was charged yesterday with trying to kill his wife at their Connecticut home by beating her with a flashlight and choking her.

John Michael Farren, 57, was arraigned on charges of strangulation and attempted murder.

His wife, Mary Farren, was beaten so severely at their New Canaan home that she was at points knocked unconscious and lost vision, police said.

She managed to sound an alarm and flee the house with her two children.