Coroner identifies hotel employee killed in fatal Evansville stabbing
EVANSVILLE – An Evansville man has been arrested after police say he fatally stabbed a motel employee who he said tried to sexually assault his girlfriend.
Dewayne Bruce Whitney Jr., 36, was booked into the Vanderburgh County jail Saturday night and preliminarily charged with murder. According to the affidavit filed in the case, Whitney told both an Evansville firefighter on scene and an EPD detective that he "did it." He later described the knife and said it was lying on the floorboard of his car.
The Vanderburgh County Coroner's Office publicly identified the victim of the stabbing as 51-year-old Christopher Samples of Evansville.
Detectives and first responders arrived at the Esquire Inn, where Samples worked, in the 1800 block of Old Business 41 just before 6:30 p.m. Saturday, the police said. A 911 caller told dispatchers that Samples was in the motel's office bleeding from his chest.
Samples was unresponsive when police arrived, the affidavit states, and was ultimately taken to Deaconess Midtown, where he died. In a news release published Sunday evening, Vanderburgh County Coroner Steve Lockyear said Samples "died from a stab wound."
A detective found Whitney sitting in the front seat of a Toyota Yaris.
"As (the detective) was approaching the scene, a firefighter with the Evansville Fire Department tells him that Whitney told him that he did it," Whitney's arrest affidavit states.
During an interview at EPD headquarters, Whitney reportedly told investigators that he walked into his girlfriend's room at the Esquire earlier that night and found the motel employee, Samples, in the room "fixing his pants" and assumed something had been going on. Samples and Whitney's girlfriend were previously together, police wrote.
What the affidavit says
The woman reportedly told investigators that Samples had attempted to sexually assault her. She said Samples texted her a few minutes before the stabbing and "demanded" that she go to her room at the Esquire.
She said Samples later entered the room and reportedly pushed her against the wall and shoved his hand down her pants. Samples then allegedly forced her onto the bed and tried to get her to perform a sex act. When she wouldn't, Samples went into the bathroom.
That's when Whitney entered the room, the affidavit states. After the two men argued and bumped chests, Samples left. Whitney and the woman then drove to the Esquire office.
Detectives obtained surveillance footage from the office. In it, Whitney reportedly punches and shatters a plexiglass pane near the counter and walks behind the desk. Samples is seen trying to stop him, and Whitney then grabs him by the throat before getting pushed away.
"At this time Whitney is seen pulling something from his waist and going back toward (the employee)," the affidavit states. "There is a struggle in the corner of the room and (the employee) is seen walking back behind the counter. (The employee) is seen raising his hand and blood can be seen on his hands.
"(The employee) then collapses on the ground."
No case for Whitney had been entered into court records as of Sunday morning. According to the Vanderburgh County jail website, he's currently being held without bond.
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Police: Evansville man accused of murder after fatal stabbing at motel
