A Cloquet man and a Moose Lake woman remain in Carlton County Jail after an unusually violent stabbing in a Moose Lake extended-stay motel that has become a common source of police calls, said Moose Lake Police Chief Dale Heaton.
Steven Ross Shotley, 20, was charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder, three counts of assault and one count of first-degree burglary after Shotley allegedly stabbed someone staying at the Carroll Inn in Moose Lake in the early morning hours of Aug. 22.
According to the criminal complaint, Shotley kicked in the door to an apartment rented by John Erlitz and his girlfriend, Andrea Boseovski. Shotley entered the bedroom and began stabbing Erlitz using a knife with a 4½-inch blade.
While Boseovski sought help next door, Shotley and Erlitz emerged from the apartment, still fighting with each other. Shotley was beating Erlitz with a crowbar. When neighbors intervened, Shotley fled in a car driven by Jessi Marie Lees, who also was charged with two counts of attempted second-degree murder, three counts of assault and one count of first-degree burglary. Each count is a felony.
Shotley and Lees were later arrested near Barnum. Shotley is being held on $300,000 bail, while bail for Lees was set at $150,000. Shotley has an omnibus hearing scheduled for Sept. 17 in Carlton County Court, while Lees has an omnibus hearing scheduled for Sept. 15.
ADVERTISEMENT
Erlitz was stabbed in the upper torso, forearms and neck, injuries that required about 30 stitches, Heaton said. He was treated and released from Mercy Hospital and Health Care Center in Moose Lake.
Heaton said the crime was not random, though it's not yet clear how the two parties knew each other.
The Pine Journal of Cloquet contributed to this report.
