Inset: Charles Justus (Hubbard County Jail). Background: The Piney Park Mobile Home Community where Justus allegedly tried to kill his former neighbor (Google Maps).
A 44-year-old man in Minnesota has been arrested after he allegedly broke into his former neighbor”s home, stabbing the other man multiple times in front of his 5-year-old daughter because he believed the victim had an affair with his wife.
Charles Justus was taken into custody over the weekend and charged with one count each of first- and second-degree attempted murder, first- and second-degree assault, and burglary, records show.
According to a news release from the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office, deputies at about 3:35 a.m. on Oct. 4 responded to a call regarding “an adult male and his 5-year-old daughter screaming for help” outside a trailer in the Piney Park Mobile Home Community in Straight River Township, just out of Park Rapids. One of the neighbors told the dispatcher that they opened their door and found the man bleeding from the chest due to multiple apparent stab wounds.
Law enforcement and emergency medical personnel arrived on the scene a short time later and located the victim — later identified as 49-year-old David Kerr — suffering from what appeared to be eight to 10 separate stab wounds.
Kerr was able to tell investigators that Justus, a former neighbor, had come into his house through an unlocked door and attacked him with a knife, the Park Rapids Enterprise reported, citing a probable cause affidavit. The victim’s mother was also allegedly able to identify Justus as the assailant.
Kerr was rushed to nearby St. Joseph’s Hospital via ambulance for treatment. Due to the severity of his condition, he was later airlifted to a hospital in Fargo, North Dakota.
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Deputies responded to Justus’ home, where they made contact with him and his wife, Danielle Westphal, both of whom were detained and transported to the sheriff’s office for questioning. The sheriff’s office said Justus voluntarily confessed to the attack.
Inset: Danielle Westphal (Hubbard County Jail). Background: The Piney Park Mobile Home Community where Westphal’s husband allegedly tried to kill his former neighbor (Google Maps).
“During an interview with investigators, Justus admitted to stabbing the victim multiple times with a knife,” the release said. “He told investigators that he once lived next to Kerr and suspected his wife had an affair with Kerr, so he went to his residence to hurt him. As he entered Kerr’s residence, he saw Kerr and Kerr’s daughter on the couch. He began attacking Kerr with his fists and knife.”
Following the attack, Justus said he returned home and told his wife what he had done. The duo then allegedly got into Westphal’s car and drove somewhere to dispose of Justus’ bloody clothing.
Westphal provided authorities with a similar story, per the release.
“Investigators then interviewed Westphal who said that she saw blood on her husband’s arm when he came home,” the sheriff’s office wrote. “He then told her that he had just stabbed Kerr. She admitted to then assisting her husband with disposing of his clothing.”
