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Murder defendant says victim attacked him earlier and he was afraid
By Carl Chancellor Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Friday, Nov 02, 2007
A frail and haggard Robert Hudson sat on the witness stand Thursday and said he regretted fatally stabbing a neighbor early Feb. 16 following a daylong quarrel over moving a car.
''I wish I had throwed that old knife away,'' Hudson told Summit County Common Pleas Judge Judy Hunter.
Hudson, 72, is being tried for murder in the death of Neal D. Shafer, 56. Hunter will decide the case.
The day of fighting allegedly began when Shafer refused to move his car from a side street next to the Miller Hotel, 1226 Highbrook St., where both men lived.
Hudson, who is the unofficial manager of the building, wanted Shafer to move his car to allow the street to be plowed.
Hudson testified Shafer at
tacked him after he told Shafer to move his car. He said Shafer, whom he once considered a friend, ''just flipped.''
Hudson said Shafer had been drinking and said he was tired of Hudson's nagging; he then hit Shafer.
''Pow. He hit me . . . He knocked me down four or five times,'' Hudson said.
Instead of calling police, Hudson said, he washed and bandaged himself and went to the nearby Main Event bar for a few beers.
A Main Event waitress testified that Shafer called the bar and threatened Hudson again.
Shafer later called police from a hospital emergency room to report he had been beaten, authorities said. There was conflicting information regarding the cause of his injuries.
Hudson testified he believed another Miller Hotel resident might have beaten Shafer in retaliation for what Shafer did to Hudson earlier in the day.
Police became involved when Shafer went to the hospital — officers took reports from both men about 9:30 p.m. Feb. 15. The police report indicated the two appeared to be intoxicated.
The final confrontation between took place about five hours later, at 3:20 a.m., in the lobby of the Miller Hotel.
Police said the two men quarreled again and Shafer was fatally stabbed.
''He kept coming at me. He shoved me. Then I think I stabbed him in his chest,'' Hudson testified.
Hudson said that on the day of the stabbing, he was in fear for his life because of the age and physical difference between the two. Hudson said Shafer was 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighed 230 pounds, while he is 5 feet, 11 inches and about 140 pounds.
Hudson also said he has suffered from ill health for many years.
''My health is pretty poor. I have prostate cancer and it has got to the bone and has spread everywhere,'' Hudson said.
Prosecutors have rejected Hudson's account, saying that instead of being a feeble, sickly man defending himself, Hudson was enraged by the earlier beating and attacked Shafer to even the score.
Closing arguments are to be presented today.
Carl Chancellor can be reached at 330-996-3725 or cchancellor@thebeaconjournal.com.
A frail and haggard Robert Hudson sat on the witness stand Thursday and said he regretted fatally stabbing a neighbor early Feb. 16 following a daylong quarrel over moving a car.
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