BATH — The Bath man accused of nearly stabbing his girlfriend to death earlier this year will enter a plea of guilty Friday to a charge of elevated aggravated assault – a Class A crime.

Sagadahoc County District Attorney Geoffrey Rushlau said the negotiated plea agreement with 29-year-old Matthew T. Wycoff recommends a sentence of 15 years.

Rushlau said if Justice Andrew Horton accepts his guilty plea, Wycoff will serve eight years and be placed on probation for the remaining seven years. A charge of attempted murder will be dismissed, Rushlau added.

Wycoff is scheduled to appear Friday at 1 p.m. in Sagadahoc County Superior Court.

Bath Police Chief Michael Field, in an e-mail sent to the Press Herald, said, “This is one of the most serious domestic violence cases we have seen here in Bath.”

Bath police said Wycoff was arrested Feb. 20 following an early morning domestic disturbance at a Washington Street apartment building. Officers found a 38-year-old woman, reported to be Wycoff’s girlfriend, bleeding from the neck.

Witnesses told police that Wycoff stabbed the woman multiple times in the neck after the two argued. Wycoff fled the apartment but was arrested a short while later at a gas station in Topsham.

The victim will not be in court Friday and sentencing will occur at a later date, according to Rushlau.