Salt Lake City man charged with murder in stabbing death of his stepfather

Charles Anthony Petrie of Salt Lake City was charged Tuesday with murder for allegedly stabbing his stepfather to death Saturday afternoon.

John Richard “Johnny” Postlethwait was found on his bed in a large pool of blood with a knife in his hand, according to a probable cause statement. Postlethwait removed the knife from his chest after Petrie’s brother pulled him off Postlethwait, their stepfather.

According to the statement, Petrie, 30, and Postlethwait, 54, got into a verbal altercation the night before. Afterward, Petrie made a comment to his brother, Nathan Petrie, about “shanking” or “sticking” Postlethwait.

Charles Petrie had been released from jail the day before the stabbing and was on probation for an aggravated assault charge from 2016, stemming from an altercation where he allegedly choked his brother’s girlfriend.

According to the brother, Nathan Petrie, Charles Petrie exhibited normal behavior Saturday morning following the Friday altercation. He was joking around and baked cookies for Nathan Petrie’s child.

But when Nathan Petrie and his child went into the basement of the house and the Petrie’s mother went to shower, an altercation broke out between Postlethwait and Charles Petrie, according to the probable cause statement.

Nathan Petrie heard a scream and a struggle coming from upstairs. He went up to find Charles Petrie kneeling on the bed over his stepfather.

“Nathan heard Mr. Postlethwait gurgling and say, ‘He’s killing me,’” the probable cause statement says.

As Nathan Petrie pulled his brother from the bed he saw a knife buried in their stepfather and Charles Petrie’s hand on the handle.

As Nathan Petrie removed his brother from the room, Postlethwait pulled the knife from his body. When his wife came in she saw him lying on his back with the knife in his hand. She took the knife and set it on the floor.

When police arrived to the home near 700 East and 1700 South at about 1 p.m., they found two men standing over Charles Petrie, one holding a baseball bat, according to the probable cause statement, which doesn’t identify the two men.

Medical responders declared Postlethwait dead at the home. A medical examiner ruled Monday that the cause of death was a sharp force injury to the torso, finding the death to be a homicide.

Charles Petrie is being held in the Salt Lake County jail on $1 million bail. An initial court hearing is set for Friday.



from The Salt Lake Tribune http://ift.tt/2Er8cDo

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