Klamath Falls, Ore. – A Klamath Falls man charged with murder may not be going to prison–or even to trial.
Jesse Richard Toney was stabbed in late July of 2016 behind a Klamath Falls apartment building.
Toney died from his injuries four days later.
His mother Sandi Tarter is still grieving. “This was my son. He was a good guy, and he didn’t deserve to die like this.”
Paul Christian Wuerz turned himself in to police the day after the stabbing, but he may never go to trial.
“It doesn’t sound like he’s really going to make it to court,” said Tarter.
Wuerz is currently being evaluated at the state hospital in Salem, to see if he’s fit to stand trial.
“I just want to make sure that this guy is locked up so he can’t do this to anyone else,” said Tarter. “I don’t care if he’s in a prison facility, a mental institute, or whatever – I just want to make sure that he’s not free to roam the streets.”
Sandi Tarter says the murder of her son has taken a heavy toll on her family, adding that it’s been especially difficult to find closure. “What we need is our day in court. We need to be able to tell him what we think about what he did – and I’m not sure he’s going to be capable of understanding what we say when we do tell him.”
According to court records, Wuerz was upset that Toney and another man were arguing behind the apartments.
Police say Wuerz yelled down to them that if they didn’t quiet down, he would come down and kill them.
Witnesses say Wuerz came downstairs and stabbed Toney in the chest.
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