Inset: Matthew Miner (Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office). Background: The Publix supermarket in Weaverville, N.C., where Matthew Miner surprised and stabbed his ex-girlfriend last year (Google Maps).
A North Carolina man is headed to prison for surprising his ex-girlfriend at a Publix supermarket while she was shopping and plunging a “folding-blade” knife into her as she attempted to leave. A store manager who was working at the time intervened after “hearing her screams” and managed to save the woman’s life, prosecutors say.
“According to the victim, Miner unexpectedly appeared while she was shopping and followed her to her car,” the Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office explained in a press release Tuesday announcing Matthew Miner’s prison sentence for the 2024 stabbing.
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The 63-year-old has been ordered to serve between 12 and 15 years for trying to kill his ex-girlfriend, who has not been publicly identified, at a Publix in Weaverville. He used a “folding-blade knife” to butcher the woman in the store’s parking lot as she tried to enter her vehicle to leave, per prosecutors.
Miner pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping. He told investigators that he “wanted to hurt [the victim] as much as she was hurting him,” according to the DA’s office, following their separation.
“The victim was found in the store with multiple stab wounds after being attacked,” the office said, noting how Miner retrieved a knife from his truck before setting upon the woman to stab her.
“She fought back but was prevented from escaping by Miner until a store manager intervened after hearing her screams,” prosecutors recounted. “Miner then fled the scene but was later apprehended at his home, where a folding-blade knife and the victim’s phone were found.”
Police wrote in Miner’s arrest warrants that he went after his ex with “the intent to kill” and inflict serious harm. He also tried kidnapping the woman “for the purpose of doing serious bodily injury” to her before the Publix employee stepped in, the warrants say.
