A 30-year-old Salt Lake City man has been arrested in the stabbing death of his stepfather and ordered held without bail.
Officers responded Saturday to a home near 700 East and 1700 South on a call about a stabbing and found the victim dead at the scene, according to a police probable cause statement filed in 3rd District Court. Police later identified the victim as 54-year-old Johnny Postlethwait, of Salt Lake City.
A witness who heard the Postlethwait screaming ran into his bedroom and saw Charles Anthony Petrie on the bed pushing a knife into the his chest, the statement says. Postlethwait said, “He’s f---ing killing me, he’s killing me,” and the witness wrestled Petrie off of him, according to the statement.
Petrie had blood on his hands, shirt and shoes, the statement says.
At a court hearing on Saturday, 3rd District Judge William Kendall found Petrie would constitute a danger to the community and posed a risk of flight if released on bail and ordered him held in jail.
According to court records, Petrie was accused of choking his brother’s girlfriend in 2016 while the couple’s child was present in the home and pleaded guilty last June to aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. The plea was held in abeyance for two years, meaning if Petrie met certain conditions while on probation during that period, the charge would be dismissed.
