MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — New details have been released regarding a 48-year-old man’s death after being stabbed approximately 30 times on Sunday in his home.
According to a criminal complaint, police say the man, Habibi Gessese Tesema, was stabbed by his 40-year-old wife, Amreya Rahmeto Shefa, while their two children, ages 2 and 3, were in the house.
Officers arrived to the Richfield residence after 5 a.m. on Sunday, after receiving a report of an assault with a knife in progress.
Police were speaking with witnesses who were inside the house at the time of the assault when a woman, later identified as Shefa, ran out of the home with blood on her hands and arms.
Police say she was yelling hysterically in another language, referencing her husband and her kids. Officers entered the home, saw blood in the kitchen and on the door, looked down the hallway and saw a young 2-year-old boy peeking out of a room.
Authorities were able to get both kids out of the home before searching for the husband. Officers heard water running in a bathroom and kicked the door in. The victim, identified as Tesema, was located in the tub, covered in blood with multiple cuts on his body. Officers noticed there were also two knives in the tub with him.
Paramedics worked to save Tesema but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
His wife, Shefa, was brought to the hospital to receive medical attention for a cut to her hand. She told nursing staff her husband stabbed her because he had been drinking and was taking khat.
Officers then spoke with Shefa who initially said she stabbed her husband accidentally but later admitted stabbing him out of anger. She told officers her husband wanted to bring another woman into their bedroom and said other sexual things to her that upset her.
According to the complaint, she told police she stabbed him in the chest and when he tried to take the knife away, she got cut on her hand.
She said she then picked up a second knife and stabbed him in the back, according to the complaint.
The medical examiner said there were approximately 30 cuts or stab wounds to the victim at the time of the autopsy. One stab wound on the left side of his chest cut his heart, causing his death.
Shefa has been charged with second-degree murder in the incident. If convicted, she could face up to 40 years in prison.
