By David Slone
Times-Union
WARSAW — The victim in Wednesday’s stabbing incident was stabbed at least eight times, according to court documents filed Monday.
On Feb. 21, Kosciusko County Central Dispatch was advised of a stabbing at a Sophie Lane residence in Warsaw. Dispatch advised the male victim was reportedly stabbed at least eight to nine times and was in the front yard of the residence. Dispatch also advised the suspect – later identified as Izak Vincent Eugene Newton, 28, of 214 Sophie Lane, Warsaw – had fled the scene on foot.
Upon arrival to the scene, a Warsaw Police Department officer saw the victim in the front yard covered in blood. The officer also saw what appeared to be fresh blood all over the sidewalk and into the residence entry. A nearby grill also had blood on it, court documents state.
The officer spoke with a woman who said that she, Newton, the victim and a child all lived at the residence. She identified Newton as the person who stabbed the victim and that Newton fled the scene eastbound barefoot. She described what clothes he was wearing, as well as that he was approximately 6 foot, 6 inches and weighed 285 to 300 pounds with shoulder-length brown hair and a long brown beard.
Emergency Medical Services arrived on scene and initially counted approximately 19 stab wounds, court documents state. The victim was taken to Lutheran Kosciusko Hospital by ambulance and airlifted to Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne. He was in stable but critical condition with multiple stab wounds.
The woman spoke to officers and advised that she and Newton ran errands and were home for about two hours. The victim was in his bedroom on his computer while the woman and Newton sat on the couch to watch television. Newton allegedly walked into the victim’s bedroom, the woman heard a commotion and saw Newton stab the victim, court documents state. The woman pulled Newton off the victim, who fled outside through the front door. Newton followed the victim and Newton pushed the victim against a charcoal grill. The woman said the child witnessed the incident.
A neighbor told officers that he overheard a bunch of commotion outside his residence, opened the door and heard the woman yell for help. Newton pushed the victim against the charcoal grill and Newton hit the victim. The neighbor saw Newton stab the victim with a knife that had a blade 4 inches long. The neighbor asked Newtown what he was doing, grabbed Newton by the shoulder and Newton stood up and turned around. Newton made noises, grunted and said that the neighbor’s daughter paid the victim to have sex, according to court documents.
The neighbor stated Newton then said he was going to kill him, turned back toward the victim and started to stab the victim again. The neighbor yelled for Newton to stop, Newton said, “I’m going to go to jail” and the neighbor responded, “No, you’re going to go to prison.” Newton then ran off to the east.
Multiple law enforcement agencies assisted with the search for Newton, who was eventually found by a Warsaw officer near a gravel pit near CR 100E. Newton was completely naked, had mud on his face and chest, was wearing a crown made of brush and advised he believed he was Jesus, court documents state. Officers saw wounds on Newton’s hands consistent with knife wounds. Newton made an excited utterance that the wounds on his hands were from his knife.
On Feb. 22, the child completed a forensic interview at the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center in Warsaw. The child said the woman, Newton and the child watched a show when Newton randomly started to fight with the victim in the bedroom for no reason. The child went to the neighbor’s house.
Also on Feb. 22, a detective spoke with Newton, who agreed to speak with the detective.
Newton said he was in a relationship with the woman for four years. He said he suspected that the victim had an inappropriate relationship with the child and another juvenile and that the victim taught the child evil matter.
Newton said the victim was in his room and Newton went into the victim’s room. Newton said he stabbed the victim first in the neck, then around his body and further hit the victim on the head. Newton indicated he received the knife as a Christmas present. He did not remember anything else about the incident that occurred inside the residence.
Newton further remembered he was outside and told the neighbor about the victim’s inappropriate relationship with the child and another juvenile. The victim went inside the residence and Newton ran across the street, court documents state. Newton continued to flee over a wire fence and called his sister to tell her he was going to go to jail because he stabbed someone. Newton threw his phone in a pond, dropped the knife in the pond, jumped in the pond and covered himself with mud. Newton said he was scared for his own safety and felt trapped in the residence.
The detective asked Newton what he tried to do to the victim and Newton replied, “Kill him,” and he was willing to face whatever. Newton admitted he smoked weed prior to the incident.
Newton was on pretrial release out of Kosciusko Superior Court II wherein he is charged with domestic battery, a class A misdemeanor. The victim in that case is the woman who was living in the residence at the time of the stabbing. There is a no-contact order as a condition of bond that was entered in the cause, prohibiting Newton from having contact with the woman.
For the stabbing incident, Newton is facing charges of attempted murder, a level 1 felony; aggravated battery, a level 3 felony; intimidation (draws or uses a deadly weapon), a level 5 felony; and invasion of privacy, a class A misdemeanor.
