MAPLEWOOD, Minn. — Editor's Note: The following story contains graphic details. Viewer discretion is advised.
A 61-year-old Maplewood man now faces two second-degree murder charges after a 30-year-old man who he allegedly stabbed late last month died, local officials said in a news release.
According to the City of Maplewood, 30-year-old Richard Williams of St. Paul died Aug. 9 from injuries sustained in a stabbing that happened July 29. The suspect, a 61-year-old Maplewood man, is now in custody at the Ramsey County Jail and is charged with second-degree murder with intent, not premeditated and second-degree murder without intent, while committing a felony.
The statement of probable cause for the charges filed against the 61-year-old details what allegedly happened on July 29. According to the document, officers responded to Larpenteur Avenue East for a reported stabbing and found Williams on the ground, "bleeding profusely from his chest."
After the responding officers provided medical treatment for the several stab wounds they found, Williams was taken to Regions Hospital. On the way there, he stopped breathing and his heart rate dropped. Once he arrived at the hospital, he was immediately taken into surgery, according to court documents.
Witnesses told officers that Williams and the suspect, who was identified by witnesses, "had a beef" and Williams was stabbed six or seven times. According to the probable cause affidavit, cell phone video captured the fight that led up to the fatal stabbing, with both me allegedly verbally berating each other.
When officers went to the suspect's home, they found his motorcycle with apparent blood on the handgrips and arrested him. According to the court documents, the suspect continued to talk about what happened after officers told him his constitutional rights. In the patrol car, the suspect allegedly said, "If I would’ve had a pistol, I should have just shot him. I’m going to jail. Yeah, I cut that m-----------, he hit me in the mouth twice.”
The 61-year-old told officers that Williams threatened him and told Williams to stop hitting him. He added that Williams "was f------ with him, and he asked what he was supposed to do." The suspect also said the folding pocket knife was gone and "police would never find it."
Williams died on Aug. 9, and an autopsy done by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner Aug. 10 found that he died from multiple sharp force injuries. His death was deemed a homicide, according to the statement of probable cause.
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