Documents reveal what happened after Idaho Falls man stabbed a woman in Bingham County

SHELLEY — A 31-year-old Idaho Falls man has been charged with felonies for allegedly cutting a friend in the throat, stealing her car and leading officers on a high speed chase.

According to the affidavit of probable cause filed by the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office, around 2:10 p.m. Thursday, a detective was dispatched to a call for a 32-year-old Shelley woman who had been stabbed in the neck.

The suspect, identified as Johnathan Hatch, had fled the scene. Dispatch told the detective that Hatch had stolen the victim’s white Nissan Versa, and Bingham County deputies and Shelley police officers were searching for it.

RELATED | Idaho Falls man stabs woman, leads officers on pursuit, says sheriff’s office

Officers eventually found the vehicle traveling through Shelley at a high rate of speed, according to a news release from the Shelley Police Department. They pursued Hatch, until he reached 1400 North, just east of U.S. Highway 91. He was taken into custody at gunpoint by law enforcement.

When the detective arrived at the residence where the victim was located in the area of 900 East 600 North (Presto Bench), she was already in an ambulance and being transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

The detective met with a deputy on the scene. The deputy said he arrived and found the victim sitting on the front steps of the residence with a white towel on her neck. There was blood down the front of her shirt as well as blood on the steps and walkway to the residence.

The victim had a stab wound near the center of her throat and a cut on her hand. The deputy was not able to get much information from the victim before she was taken to the hospital. The homeowner told the deputy that the victim had come to her door and started knocking. The victim told the homeowner she had been stabbed in the neck by her friend, according to court documents.

The homeowner gave a towel and a blanket to the victim and called 911. The apparent stabbing happened southeast of the rural residence.

The detective began following blood drops from the front porch out to the side of the road. The detective eventually found two larger spots with multiple blood drops. Next to the blood drops was an empty container of liquor, the cap to the bottle, a window scraper, and deep rutted tire tracks from a vehicle.

Two detectives then went to meet with Hatch to interview him. The detective asked Hatch what happened.

Hatch began to talk rapidly about people trying to track him and hurt him, documents said.

“He stated he thinks ‘they’ sent a girl hitman to kill him. Johnathan stated his friend had a gun under her left knee and Johnathan defended himself,” the detective wrote.

Hatch told investigators that the victim did not want to hang out at her house that day and so they went for a drive. He said that his friend was driving, drinking, smoking drugs and had money in the car. Hatch said the victim kept telling him he was crazy and he was not making sense.

Hatch said they came to a stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere, documents said.

He went on to explain he thought he saw a gun underneath his friend’s leg and he defended himself.

“He kept diverting to random topics, and I kept trying to get him to explain what happened when he thought he saw a gun,” the detective wrote in documents.

At one point, Hatch said the victim held a gun to his head, and he said he defended himself because he thought she was going to kill him.

He said he used a knife and “got her.” He said he believed he stabbed her in the chest area.

Hatch told investigators multiple times that he thought his friend was dead. He was told during the interview by detectives that she was not dead; however, he still believed she was dead.

Hatch said he did not mean to hurt her, but he was defending himself and was adamant that she had a gun.

“Johnathan said he jumped at (the victim) with the knife, stabbed her in the chest and they both fell out of the car. Johnathan said he jumped in (the victim’s) car and sped off. Johnathan said he was looking for police and medical (help),” documents said.

Throughout the interview with investigators, he talked about conspiracy theories about being tracked and people following him.

“It was difficult to keep Johnathan on track with the interview,” detectives said in documents.

Detectives were able to interview the victim at the hospital. She said she got a call from Hatch and he drove to her house.

She said they went for a drive to Wolverine. The victim said he was “seeing people in the back seat and talking crazy.” She said Hatch pulled out a knife.

She said she told Hatch to give her the knife and she was eventually able to get the knife from him. The victim said he pulled out another knife and was holding it while they were driving. She said he would not give her the knife. The victim stopped the vehicle, and Hatch jumped on her.

She said he held the knife to her throat. The victim told the detective she was “scared for her life” and tried to get out of the car. When she tried to get out of the car, she believed that’s when Hatch cut her throat.

She said Hatch pushed her out of the car. She did not realize she had been cut immediately. She heard him yell, “If you tell anyone, I will kill you!”

Hatch drove off in the victim’s car. She went to a nearby residence to get help, documents said.

Hatch has been charged with felony aggravated battery and felony grand theft. Prosecutors are seeking a sentencing enhancement for the use of a firearm or deadly weapon during the commission of a crime which can extend a sentence by 15 years.

He was given a $500,000 bond and issued a no-contact order toward the victim. He is scheduled for a competency evaluation review on Dec. 15 at the Bingham County courthouse.

Though Hatch has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.