Man Accused of Assaulting a Woman, Holding Police at Bay Charged

(KNSI) — The man accused of assaulting a woman at a home in Belgrade and holding police at bay for several hours has officially been charged in Stearns County District Court.

According to the criminal complaint, just after 10:00 Monday morning, police received a call from a woman about a possible homicide at a home in Brooten. She said her ex-husband, Christopher Shepersky, told her he had stabbed a woman and said she might be dead. She said Shepersky was “using meth” and may be delusional.

The caller gave the pictures to the police that showed a woman’s blood-spattered face. The criminal complaint said her eyes were closed in that photo. Another was a picture of a sledgehammer on the floor with a pool of blood next to it. There was also a photo showing a gun that appeared to be a pump style BB gun surrounded by streaks of blood and bloody footprints.

Police went to the house, which was actually on the 100 block of Washburn Avenue in Belgrade, and said they were able to contact the woman via phone and also negotiated with Shepersky for her release. She was rushed to the Paynesville Hospital, where she was treated for what police say are non-life-threatening injuries.

According to the criminal complaint, the woman gave a statement to police at the hospital. She said Shepersky had been at her home since Sunday. She said the two had been using meth, and early Monday morning, she said he became paranoid and delusional. She said he saw lights outside the home and believed police were there to arrest him. He accused her of turning him in and became angry, grabbing two knives, holding one to her throat. He told her she would help him get away and then made her sit in front of him. He held the steak knife and a roughly eight to ten inch long serrated bread knife to her throat. She said he was moving the knives along her throat and pointing the tip of the steak knife at her chest. She told investigators he said if police came into the house, he would kill her. The criminal complaint says he insisted he wasn’t going back to jail and continued threatening her with the knives.

She got away from Shepersky, and according to the criminal complaint, the two struggled on the floor over the knife, and she suffered a large, deep cut to her hand. She said she wrestled the knife away from Shepersky and believed she may have stabbed him in the side and injured his cheek.

According to the criminal complaint, the woman passed out after the struggle due to so much blood loss. Waking up around 6:30 a.m., she said Shepersky walked into the room and again accused her of setting him up and said he would use her as a human shield.

She said he calmed down for a while until a pet began moving in the house, and he again thought it was law enforcement that had made their way inside, and he became paranoid again. She said she tried to leave three or four times but said Shepersky wouldn’t let her.

The criminal complaint says at some point, she spoke to law enforcement via the phone and answered some questions, but she said Shepersky still had the steak knife and was telling her not to move. She said he pushed her into a room where she fell and hit her head. She said Shepersky walked into the room with the sledgehammer and threatened her with it, afraid he would kill her.

According to the criminal complaint, negotiators spoke with Shepersky, and about 6:00 p.m., he agreed to come outside. Police say he had minor injuries to his cheek and hand. He was arrested and taken to the Stearns County jail, where he allegedly corroborated some of the woman’s statements she gave to investigators. When police told him he was being arrested, Shepersky reportedly became irate, screaming and cursing at officers, saying he should “forced law enforcement’s hand” to kill him.

A search warrant of the home revealed a bloody scene, along with the sledgehammer, BB gun, knives, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia.

Shepersky of Deer Creek, Minnesota in Otter Tail County, has been charged with second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and false imprisonment. Bail has been set at $200,000 without conditions or $100,000 with conditions. His next court appearance is scheduled for November 22nd.

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