Stabbing victim treated
A Butler woman was arrested after allegedly stabbing her boyfriend early Tuesday morning during a domestic dispute at their home on Wilkes Avenue.
Mary V. Rendine, 62, admitted she armed herself with a knife when the argument with Stephen M. Richards escalated about 2 a.m., Butler police said.
She said she stabbed 57-year-old Richards in his left shoulder, according to court documents.
Richards was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital for multiple stab wounds in his shoulder and abdomen, and later moved to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh, a BMH spokesman said.
His condition was not known this morning.
Rendine was arraigned on charges of aggravated assault, a felony, and simple assault and reckless endangerment, both misdemeanors. She is free on $5,000 bail.
Police went to the Butler hospital after learning that Richards had been admitted there for injuries in the suspected stabbing. He apparently drove himself to the hospital.
An emergency room nurse told police that before the alleged victim showed up, she got a call from the defendant.
Rendine told the nurse that she stabbed Richards “because he was strangling her,” according to a police affidavit.
Officers spoke to Richards in the examination room. Police described his injuries as apparent stab wounds and small cuts on the left shoulder and right side of his abdomen. He also had a bruise on the left side of his face.
Richards acknowledged that he and Rendine had gotten into an argument but he denied touching her during the dispute, documents said.
“When asked how he obtained the injuries,” the affidavit said, “Richards stated that he ‘was trying to leave.’”
Police went to the couple’s home where they found Rendine.
