Suspect in Attleboro stabbing ordered held without bail

BY DAVID LINTON SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Tuesday, May 13, 2008 2:57 AM EDT

ATTLEBORO - A judge ordered a city man accused of stabbing another man while he slept in bed, held in jail without bail Monday after hearing police testify about the assault and the bloody crime scene.

Attleboro District Court Judge John A. Canavan III ordered Manuel A. Mendez Jr., 49, in jail under the state's dangerousness law as requested by Assistant District Attorney Jessica Lennon.

Mendez was already being held on a federal detainer filed by U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement because he is an illegal alien.

He is accused of attempting to kill 21-year-old German Mendez by stabbing him six times in the chest, arms and left leg before the 5-inch knife blade broke in the victim's left leg in early morning hours last Tuesday, police testified.

The two men are not related and were former roommates. Mendez was hospitalized at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence but is expected to recover from his wounds.

Hours before the stabbing, the two men fought at El Azteca restaurant on Pleasant Street during a Cinco de Mayo celebration, police said.

The victim told Attleboro Patrolman Rafael Ruano that he went to the bathroom to avoid Manuel Mendez, who told him he wanted to fight him. After the men exchanged punches, the victim left with a message from Mendez, according to testimony.

"I'm going to kill you," Ruano testified the victim quoted Mendez as telling him.

Ruano testified the victim told him he went home to his apartment at 103 Park St. to bed and was awakened by someone punching him. The victim then saw Mendez standing over him with a shiny object in his hands, Ruano testified.

The victim told Ruano he struggled to protect himself as Mendez struck him with the object and felt a sharp pain in his arms and left leg before Mendez fled the apartment, Ruano testified.

The victim, Ruano testified, did not realize what happened to him until he stood up and turned on the light.

"When he turned on the light he saw blood on his chest and all around him," Ruano said.

Detective Alex Aponte said police tracked Mendez to the basement of 20 Falmouth St. and arrested him a few hours after the stabbing. Aponte testified Mendez told him the victim punched him in the face at El Azteca so he got a knife from his apartment. He went to the victim's Park Street apartment to assault him "but that he couldn't recollect exactly how it happened," Aponte testified.

Mendez is due back in court June 10 for a probable cause hearing.

Police are also investigating reports from friends that Mendez, who is also known as Meko, killed three people in his native Guatemala.

Aponte testified police have learned no new information about the reports but are still investigating.

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