Navinkumar Patel, of Shawnee, looks on in court Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2015, as he waived his right to a preliminary hearing in an attempted first-degree murder case. The 46-year-old owner of Super 8 in Lawrence was accused of stabbing his wife twice in the abdomen at the motel, 515 McDonald Drive, on June 24, 2015. Patel is pictured in front of his interpreter.

The 46-year-old owner of Lawrence’s Super 8 motel was bound over for trial on a charge of attempted first-degree murder Tuesday after waiving his right to a preliminary hearing in the case.

Navinkumar Patel, of Shawnee, is accused of stabbing his wife twice in the abdomen at his motel at 515 McDonald Drive on June 24. According to an affidavit supporting his arrest, Patel told police he did so after growing angry with her because she was eating a bowl of Cheerios and he thought she was “fat.”

His wife survived the stabbing, which allegedly occurred in an office area near the motel lobby. After the attack, she ran from the area and found an “unknown man” who provided first aid and helped her call police, Lawrence Police Detective M.T. Brown wrote in the affidavit.

Navinkumar Patel, of Shawnee, looks on in court Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2015, as he waived his right to a preliminary hearing in an attempted first-degree murder case. The 46-year-old owner of Super 8 in Lawrence was accused of stabbing his wife twice in the abdomen at the motel, 515 McDonald Drive, on June 24, 2015. Patel is pictured in front of his interpreter.

When police arrived, an officer asked Patel if there was a disturbance going on, and Patel directed him to the office, according to the affidavit. Patel then handed the knife, which he still had in hand, to the officer, according to the affidavit. Patel then allegedly told the officer, “I stabbed her.”

Medics responded and took the woman to Lawrence Memorial Hospital with two 2-centimeter stab wounds. She was hospitalized, but has since been released.

According to court records, Patel’s attorney, John Kerns, has filed a notice with the court detailing his intention to use a mental disease or defect defense, though no details have been made publicly available about a possible mental affliction of Patel.

At his first court appearance in June, Patel seemed to not understand the charge against him. On Tuesday, Patel, a native of India, had a professional interpreter relay back to him what was being said in court.

Because Patel waived his preliminary hearing, he will automatically proceed to arraignment, where he will enter a formal plea to the charge. That will take place at a court hearing Sept. 18.

Patel remains in the Douglas County Jail on a $500,000 bond. He is banned from contacting his wife, returning to their shared Shawnee home or to the Super 8. The motel remains in business.