Court papers filed in a case in which a 54-year-old Hellertown man is charged with attempted homicide have shed additional light on what allegedly happened over the weekend.
William Vera is charged with felony attempted homicide and felony aggravated assault for allegedly stabbing another man on E. Thomas Avenue Saturday.
The stabbing with which William Vera is charged allegedly took place inside a residential unit at 64 E. Thomas Ave., Hellertown (pictured above). According to a criminal complaint filed in Northampton County District Court 03-2-04 by Hellertown Police, Vera was reportedly staying in the apartment with a friend following his eviction from an apartment in a building across the street. Per court papers, Vera told officers he stabbed his friend in self-defense following an argument.
In an affidavit of probabe cause filed in Northampton County District Court o3-2-04, police said officers were called to the 7-Eleven at the corner of W. Thomas Avenue and Main Street around 3:20 a.m. Saturday after Vera was allegedly observed inside the convenience store pacing and “uttering statements that he had just stabbed somebody.”
The affidavit said an officer met with Vera outside the store and was told by him that “he just stabbed somebody over 20 times and that they were bleeding out at 64 Thomas Avenue.”
Vera then allegedly identified a knife that was sitting atop a garbage can as the weapon used in the stabbing.
Court papers say that after taking Vera into custody, police went to 64 E. Thomas Ave. and found an apartment door open. After entering the unit, they said they found a man in his late fifties unconscious on the living room floor and bleeding from multiple stab wounds to his head, neck, torso and left hand.
The man was then rushed to a local trauma center for emergency surgery.
Police said Vera was taken to a different medical facility for treatment of wounds to his hands before being interviewed by a detective at Hellertown Police headquarters.
According to the affidavit, during the interview Vera identified the stabbing victim as “his friend who was currently letting him (Vera) stay at the residence after he…was evicted from 65 E. Thomas Ave., located across the street.”
“(Vera) admitted to stabbing the victim multiple times during an altercation inside the residence, a portion during which the defendant ‘blacked out’ and was unsure how many stab wounds he had inflicted,” the affidavit said.
Police said the alercation began with an argument between the men “over concern for the victim’s intoxicated state.”
In the affidavit, police said Vera claimed during his interview that the victim “had ‘lunged’ at (him)” and that the stabbing with a pocket knife was done to “defend himself from attack.”
As of the filing of the criminal complaint, police said they had not yet been able to interview the victim of the stabbing, who is expected to survive.
As of Monday, Vera was being held without bail in the Northampton County Prison. A preliminary hearing in his case was scheduled for Friday, Aug. 16 at 10:30 a.m. before District Judge Alan Mege in Lower Saucon Township.
Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until or unless proven guilty. This story was compiled using information provided by the Hellertown Police Department and Northampton County court records.
