Authorities say a man was fatally stabbed Thursday night when he tried to rescue his girlfriend’s mother, who police believe was being held captive by her estranged husband in a Maplewood apartment. The man allegedly had strangled his wife, repeatedly punched her in the head and forced her to walk around naked.
The woman’s husband, Lloyd Matthew McKenzie, 52, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of second-degree assault, according to the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.
The Friday criminal complaint gave the following details:
On Thursday night, a woman went to check on her mother after not hearing from her for a few days. Shortly before 6 p.m., she arrived at her mother’s apartment in the 1900 block of East County Road D in Maplewood with her 33-year-old boyfriend and a cousin.
Her father answered the door. When he did, her mother said, “Thank you, God.”
The father tried to close the door but the cousin had jammed a foot in the doorway to prevent the door from closing. Then the father allegedly stabbed his daughter’s boyfriend with a serrated steak knife and allegedly tried to stab the cousin.
The complaint said the mother yelled for help and asked the three to not let her husband lock her in the apartment again. However, he was still able to close the door.
Police arrived and kicked in the door, arresting McKenzie when he came out of a bedroom. The mother thanked officers and ran from the apartment, distraught and inconsolable.
Officers found the daughter’s boyfriend in the fetal position on the floor across from the apartment with stab wounds to his chest and abdomen. He died in surgery early Friday at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.
The mother told investigators that she and McKenzie were not together as a couple and that he had come from out of state and broken into her apartment and was living there. He held her inside for three days while he was allegedly using crack cocaine, she said.
She was allowed to leave to go to the store, but McKenzie had taken her car keys and cellphones. He followed her around the apartment, she said, and forced her to remain naked. At times he would punch her in the head or threaten her with a screwdriver, she alleged.
On Tuesday, he strangled her, she told police. She said she tried to appease him and show him affection to keep him from hurting her further.
When her daughter and the others arrived on Thursday night, McKenzie ordered her to put clothes on and then opened the door and stabbed her daughter’s boyfriend, she said. She ran and hid in a bedroom and tried to block the door with a chest freezer, but he forced his way in and stood over her with a knife, she said.
She agreed to tell police that the boyfriend had a gun and that McKenzie had only acted in self-defense when he stabbed the man. The mother told police she only said this so he wouldn’t hurt her further. She told investigators the knife was under the mattress in her bedroom.
After he was read his Miranda rights, McKenzie agreed to speak with police. He said he and his wife had been on a marijuana and crack binge for a few days and that he had wanted to stop but she hadn’t. Then he said that his daughter, her boyfriend and her cousin came and demanded the mother leave with them.
He told police that he told them, “She’s not going with you.”
He said that the boyfriend pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger, but the gun didn’t fire. He said he tried to defend himself and that the boyfriend was injured in the scuffle. When asked to elaborate on the scuffle, he did not answer.
When asked if he stabbed the boyfriend, McKenzie said he wouldn’t answer without a lawyer.
After obtaining a search warrant, officers retrieved the knife with blood on it under the mattress.
The criminal complaint said that McKenzie has 14 prior felony convictions, including assault, burglary and robbery.
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