POLSON — A Browning man is being held in the Lake County Detention Facility on $1 million bail after allegedly killing a Polson resident at a party early Saturday morning.
Makueeyapeh Whitford, 32, faces charges of deliberate homicide in the stabbing death of 26-year-old John Pierre.
A party was being hosted at Pierre’s home on the 1600 block of First Avenue E. in Polson when the violence unfolded. Close to 4 a.m. that morning, authorities were called to the home for a noise complaint and while en route were notified that a stabbing had also occurred at the location.
Pierre was rushed to nearby St. Joseph Medical Center and pronounced dead.
Court documents state that the stabbing occurred outside of the residence, when eyewitnesses say that Pierre approached a vehicle and asked the occupants why they had turned down the music they were listening to.
According to the affidavit, Whitford approached Pierre at that point and stabbed him in the “neck or upper chest.”
Immediately after the stabbing, Whitford allegedly fled the scene as a passenger in the vehicle that Pierre had approached. A witness who was outside of the home at the time of the incident slashed a rear tire on the vehicle as it left.
Approximately an hour later, law enforcement located the vehicle with a flat tire parked at a Polson motel, where they found Whitford. Though he reportedly denied attending the party, Whitford was found to be carrying a knife with blood on it.
When showed Whitford’s picture, witnesses confirmed him as the suspect and indicated that he had been acting belligerently and aggressively throughout the party that night.
According to the Lake County Sherriff’s Public Information Officer, Karen Sargeant, it was unclear if Pierre and Whitford knew each other prior to the party.
Sargeant reported that as of Monday afternoon, there was no obvious motive for the deadly act, but an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
One thing that authorities are able to say conclusively is that alcohol played a key role in the tragedy.
“Alcohol consumption was a large component in this incident,” said Sargeant.
The killing has shaken what is otherwise a relatively tranquil neighborhood. A neighbor who wished to remain anonymous said that, “It is kind of unnerving” to have such a thing happen so close to home. The resident said that from now on, the doors to his house would be locked at night. He described Pierre as being “pretty cordial.”
Whitford has six previous felony convictions in the state of Washington for counts such as robbery, assault, possession of stolen property and possession with intent to distribute.
He is scheduled to appear in court March 27 for arraignment.