Trial by combat (Picture: Getty)

An ex-husband has asked a judge for a duel by sword with his wife, or someone she elects to fight as her champion.

David Ostrom, 40, said in a court filing that his wife had ‘destroyed [him] legally’.

He said the judge was able to let the parties ‘resolve our disputes on the field of battle, legally’, as trial by combat ‘has never been explicitly banned or restricted as a right in these United States’.

In his filing he also asked the judge for 12 weeks time so he could find or make Japanese samurai swords.


Mr Ostrom, from Paola in Kansas, said ex-wife Bridgette Ostrom, 38, could use her lawyer as a ‘stand-in fighter’ to battle him.



He said he wanted to settle things ‘on the field of battle where (he) will rend their souls from their corporal bodies’.

He said he doesn’t have the swords yet (Picture: Getty)

He told the Des Moines Register that he was inspired by a case in 2016 when New York Supreme Court Justice Philip Minardo admitted that duels had not been abolished.

The unusual request stemmed from his feelings of frustration with his ex-wife’s lawyer Matthew Hudson, he said, adding: ‘I think I’ve met Mr Hudson’s absurdity with my own absurdity.’

Mr Hudson filed a response by first correcting the spelling of the original motion, saying: ‘Surely (Ostrom) meant ‘corporeal’ bodies which Merriam Webster defines as having, consisting of, or relating to, a physical material body.

‘Although (Ostrom) and potential combatant do have souls to be rended, they respectfully request that the court not order this done.’

He asked that the court order Ostrom should have psychological treatment.

In response, Ostrom admitted the spelling mistake but said he didn’t have any mental health problems.

Iowa District Court has not yet ruled on the motions.

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