“(Crabtree) gave different reasons as to why he wanted to kill (the) 25-year-old victim,” Kirby said. “One of the reasons he said, it was because of God.”
Middletown Municipal Court Judge James E. Sherron said the state had presented sufficient evidence to establish probable cause, and Crabtree’s case would be bound over to a Butler County Grand Jury for further consideration.
Crabtree is being charged with attempted murder, a first-degree felony, and theft, a fourth-degree felony.
Crabtree’s alleged victim was in court Friday, having been released from the hospital with more than 30 stab wounds and a collapsed lung.
Crabtree had been held in Kenton County Jail in Kentucky, where a police pursuit ended Dec. 4 after Crabtree stole a Middletown cruiser to flee the scene of the alleged stabbing.
He was moved to Middletown jail Dec. 11, according to Police Chief Earl Nelson.
What happened?
Around 3:50 a.m. Dec. 4, Middletown police and fire responded to a stabbing in the 4400 block of Bonita Drive.
During a police interview, Crabtree said the victim came to his house, knocked on the door and was let in. The victim, according to Crabtree, was sitting on the couch and not threatening Crabtree.
Crabtree said “(the victim) came, laid down, and I (expletive) was talking to him and I just attacked him. It’s just ‘cause I don’t want nothing to do with that dude.”
Crabtree then told the officer “(the victim) was on the couch, I grabbed his head and I stabbed him in the throat.”
Crabtree then used hand motions to demonstrate the stabbing, according to court records.
He told the officer his intention was to kill the victim, according to court records.
Police found the 25-year-old male victim with more than 30 stab wounds to the neck, face and chest, according to court records.
The alleged murder weapon is a silver, fixed-blade style knife, according to Kirby.
The victim was transported to Atrium Medical Center and later transferred to Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton.
The victim was found to have a collapsed right lung, according to court records.
Crabtree fled on foot, police said. While a police K9 was trying to track him, the man got into a locked Middletown police cruiser through the window and stole the vehicle, according to police.
Crabtree then drove the stolen cruiser from the area of South Breiel Boulevard and Oxford State Road in Middletown to Rusconi Drive in Independence, Ky., where he was stopped by Independence Police Department, according to court records.
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