A Colorado Springs man pleaded guilty on Thursday to charges that he severely injured his soldier wife by burning her with boiling water, whipping her with a cable and strangling her into unconsciousness.

Mitchell Gibson, 29, faces up to 60 years in prison on six counts of assault against his wife with whom he lived at Fort Carson. U.S. District Judge Robert E. Blackburn explained to Gibson that he could also be sentenced to three years of supervised release after prison and fined up to $250,000 on each count.

Gibson, a hulking man with a long, bushy beard, kept his hands behind his back and politely answered questions throughout a lengthy hearing. His sentencing is scheduled for May.

According to court records, the abuse began while Gibson was dating his future wife and throughout the four years of their marriage.

Jacqueline Gibson, who was repeatedly treated for broken bones including a broken jaw, never reported the abuse until March 25 after her husband allegedly choked her and threatened to kill her daughter. She told authorities he had been drinking and had taken numerous prescription pills that night.

The Fort Carson soldier had two cuts on her face that were an inch wide and two inches long. Both of her eyes were black and she had bruises all over her body. She had blisters and second-degree burns from boiling water and whip marks inflicted by a cable on her face, arms, hips, shoulders, chest and legs, the court record indicates.

Jacqueline Gibson had not gone to law enforcement before but sought medical treatment many times.

Mitchell Gibson forced his wife to get the cable for the beatings, the documents said. He choked her into unconsciousness and bit her. He then allegedly forced her to sleep in an outside shed without shoes, jacket or blanket.

Three days later, the abuse began again around 8:30 p.m. He began to choke her for an unknown reason and was threatening to kill her. She ran but he caught her and threw her to the ground as she screamed for help. He choked until she lost consciousness, the record says.

Jacqueline Gibson, who was nine weeks pregnant, regained consciousness while he was kicking her, court records indicate. He held a steak knife to her throat as she begged him to stop.

Finally, she ran out of the home. He called her cellular phone and while their baby was screaming in the background he threatened to cut the tips of her fingers off. She then called 911.

Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, denverpost.com/coldcases or twitter.com/kirkmitchell