A 33-year-old woman told police about a mysterious man who entered her home behind her boyfriend and fatally stabbed him for some unknown reason.
But a witness says the woman’s boyfriend and the suspect, Michelle Martin, argued over food she had prepared just before a scuffle ensued and the victim was fatally stabbed, according to court records.
Martin was formally charged Thursday with first degree murder and is being held in the Denver City Jail without bond, said Lynn Kimbrough, spokeswoman for the Denver District Attorney’s Office.
The Denver coroner’s office has released the name of the victim, 43-year-old Michael Jerome Thomas. Michelle Weiss-Samaras, chief deputy coroner, said the cause of death was a stab wound to the abdomen.
According to court documents, Thomas is the father of Martin’s child. She is also pregnant.
On Friday night, at 7:40 p.m., police were called to a home at 3421 Humboldt St. Thomas was rushed to Denver Health Medical Center where he was pronounced dead hours later.
In an interview with detectives that night, Martin told authorities she had asked her boyfriend to retrieve a load of laundry that he apparently had to leave the house to get.
She saw a man follow her husband when he re-entered their house, she told the detective. Her boyfriend suddenly fell to his knees and she saw something pink on his shirt.
Martin denied having anything to do with Thomas’ stabbing and asked for an attorney, an arrest warrant affidavit says.
A man who lived in the same home with the couple told police he overheard a loud argument coming from the bedroom that Martin and Thomas shared.
Just as he arrived outside the door, there was a “thud” against the door and he heard Martin say, “‘Michael, get off of me.'”
Martin then came out of the room telling the witness to get out of the way, the affidavit says.
The witness found Thomas lying on the floor on his left side with a gaping wound on his right side. The witness saw a maroon folding knife that was closed on the floor next to Thomas’ right hand, the affidavit says.
Martin was arrested and faces first-degree murder charges.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
