A man who stabbed a New Matamoras woman in the back after asking for a hug is left facing 10 years in prison after pleading guilty Monday to attempted murder.
After the July 22 incident, police say Thaddeus J. Salomon, 20, swam across the Ohio River to avoid arrest. Sheriff's deputies in Pleasants County, W.Va., found the man later the same day soaked and seeking a ride to Marietta.
The victim in the case, Susan I. Lawson, 23, sat in the rear of the courtroom flanked by relatives during the hearing in Washington County Common Pleas Court. Lawson trembled throughout the proceeding. She was too upset to comment after the hearing, her stepfather said.
"She's still traumatized by all of this," said Ed Goodman, Lawson's stepfather. "This has affected all of us."
Other than admitting to the crime, Salomon did not comment about the incident, nor did he look in the direction of Lawson. He will be sentenced at 8 a.m. Jan. 15 by Washington County Common Pleas Judge Ed Lane.
According to Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings, Salomon had been staying with Lawson at her parents' home. He said Lawson became interested in another man and had asked Salomon to move out of the residence. That's when he had asked her to speak with him outside.
"He asked her for one last hug," Rings said. "(When they embraced), she said it felt like she was punched in the back."
Rings said Salomon had reached around and stabbed Lawson with a small knife he had concealed in his hand. The blade punctured one of her lungs.
"This would have been fatal if it wasn't treated immediately," he said.
Rings said Salomon left Lawson lying on the ground to die.
"If she hadn't have let out a scream, she would have died," Goodman said. "She's just lucky we heard her. I thought they had just gone outside to smoke a cigarette."
Salomon continues to be held in the Washington County Jail without bond awaiting his sentencing.
