In letter to friend, War Machine pleads his case, says he was ‘ambushed’

By Pashtana Usufzy

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2014 | 2 a.m.

Mixed martial arts fighter War Machine is apparently defending himself while behind bars against accusations he attacked his ex-girlfriend and a man unprovoked in August.

Celebrity gossip website TMZ said the Clark County Detention Center inmate, whose birth name is Jonathan Paul Koppenhaver, wrote a letter to a friend saying he came to Las Vegas to help his ex-girlfriend, adult film star Christy Mack.

"Bro, I went out there to surprise her and to help her set-up her booth at this tattoo expo the following morning," he wrote. "I unno if they heard me come into the house or what but dude straight ambushed me as soon as I entered the bedroom."

Koppenhaver, 32, was arrested in Simi Valley, Calif., after the 23-year-old Mack told police he entered her home and beat her and a friend in the early-morning hours of Aug. 8.

According to the declaration of warrant-summons issued for Koppenhaver after the incident, officers found Mack with multiple injuries.

Her eyes and mouth were swollen. She was missing two teeth and suffered bruises along her back and right thigh.

She told officers she was in bed with friend Corey Thomas when Koppenhaver allegedly entered her bedroom.

Thomas told police Koppenhaver began punching and choking him.

He said Koppenhaver allowed him to leave the residence.

He called police before being transported to Sunrise Hospital for a bone fracture and multiple contusions.

Mack alleges Koppenhaver beat her, forced her to take a shower as he yelled at her, and told her he planned to rape her, according to the declaration. She said he also threatened her with a knife.

Koppenhaver faces more than 30 charges including attempted murder, domestic battery by strangulation, sexual assault and first-degree kidnapping.

Mack reportedly told police she and Koppenhaver were dating on and off for 15 months when the incident occurred.

A post on Mack's Twitter page states the couple broke up in May.

Thomas initially told police that he and Mack had been dating for two to three months, according to the declaration, though Mack described him as a friend.

In the jailhouse letter, Koppenhaver said he believes he could have shot Mack and Thomas and gotten off with a “passion crime” defense if the incident had occurred in Texas.

"Even if I wasn't ambushed they still would have got what they deserved!" the letter said.

Koppenhaver also states that he has designed two T-shirts with a #FreeWar theme that he plans to sell to pay for his defense.

The letter, which is quickly spreading across the Web, isn't the only reason Koppenhaver has made headlines recently.

A series of poetic tweets have begun appearing on his Twitter account.

“A machine of war, Yet scared to death. But on my oath I'll fight, 'Till my last breath,” begins a message posted Oct. 4.

Metro Police Officer Laura Meltzer said inmates do not have access to social media from the jailhouse.

It is unclear who is posting the messages or if the person is affiliated with Koppenhaver.

This isn’t the first time Twitter has played a role in the story of the alleged assault.

Mack has been chronicling her recovery on the website.

She tweeted Sept. 14 that she still has breathing issues due to multiple nose fractures, which she expects will be fixed "in the next couple of months."

She said she is expected to regain movement in her top lip in less than six months, and dental visits have made eating easier.

A GiveForward campaign started by a friend of Mack’s has raised more than $97,000 for her medical expenses.

"It's hard to look in the mirror every day and see someone you do not know," she wrote on Twitter.

Koppenhaver also used the social networking site to express himself prior to his arrest.

"I only wish that man hadn't been there and that Christy & I would be happily engaged. I don't know y I'm so cursed. One day truth will come out," he wrote Aug. 10.

His messages galvanized supporters of both sides.

Koppenhaver's preliminary hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 17.