By Corey Williams
Associated Press
YALE, Mich. (AP) -- A brutal knife attack that left a man dead and his wife seriously wounded may have been planned a week in advance, and the couple's demand that their adopted daughter break up with her boyfriend was the likely motive, police said Monday.
Investigators were focusing on the relationship between Tia Marie-Mitchell Skinner, 17, and Jonathan Kurtz, 18 -- both now charged in the stabbings -- as the reason for the Friday morning attack, Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Pat Young told The Associated Press.
"This was not a spur-of-the-moment act," Young said. "It was planned, possibly, up to a week in advance. We believe if Tia didn't want this to happen, it would not have happened."
Skinner, Kurtz and his 18-year-old neighbor, James Preston, were arraigned over the weekend on murder, attempted murder and conspiracy charges. They were being held without bond pending a Nov. 23 hearing.
Paul Skinner, 47, and Mara Skinner, 44, were attacked after two men, wearing masks or bandanas, broke in through a window of their home and attacked the couple while they were in bed, Yale Police Chief Michael Redman said.
Mara Skinner is recovering from more than 20 knife wounds. Her husband died in the house.
The couple recently told their adopted daughter, who is also their niece, that she could no longer have any contact with Kurtz, Redman said.
Police said she was in the basement living area of the couple's house, where she also lives, when the attack took place. Redman said the brother, who did not live there, heard the commotion and ran to his parents' aid only after his father had fought off their assailants, driving them out the front door.
Police do not believe the couple's son was involved in the attack.
Two bloody knives were found in the house after officers arrived, Redman said. Young added that Tia Skinner, Kurtz and Preston each confirmed they played a role in the attack but made incriminating statements about each other during interviews.
Published: Wed, Nov 17, 2010
