An 18-year-old Highland man was charged with two counts of attempted homicide Thursday after he reportedly used a dating app to lure a woman to a Bountiful park and stabbed her repeatedly before stabbing another woman in an apparently random attack.
According to the Davis County Sheriff’s office, Kane Thomas Fairbank had been messaging with his first victim — an 18-year-old woman — on Tinder before meeting her at Mueller Park on May 12. They had met once previously, and a few hours after they arrived at the park, Fairbank allegedly coerced the woman into his car.
He then suddenly attacked her with a knife that had a “fixed blade nearly a foot in length,” court documents state.
The woman tried to get away from Fairbank, and despite extensive injuries she managed to flee from the vehicle. When others at the park came to the woman’s aid, Fairbank reportedly drove away from the scene.
Second victim ‘looked vulnerable’
Fairbank then drove to a gas station in Bountiful and abandoned his vehicle, walking to a nearby neighborhood near 550 N 500 W, according to the charges.
There, he approached another woman, 64, who did not know him and allegedly stabbed her multiple times, causing “life-threatening” injuries.
When the woman fell to the ground and attempted to fight back, Fairbank left the scene. He was then apprehended by another person nearby.
Police said Fairbank admitted that he lured the first woman to the park with the intent to kill her. He had also intended to kill the second woman, court documents state, and targeted her because she was “alone” and “looked vulnerable.”
Suspect told police he would plan to kill again
Fairbank told investigators he had planned to kill other people after the first victim, and that he had made a mask for “hunting people.” He also said he would continue to plan to kill people if he were released, according to the charging documents.
Fairbank is being held without bail at the Davis County Jail. He faces two counts of attempted homicide, one count of aggravated kidnapping and one count of obstructing justice.
He is scheduled to appear in court on May 23.
