Plea Deal Reached With Man Accused of Stabbing Woman During Standoff in Belgrade

(KNSI) – A man has been convicted of stabbing a woman in Belgrade during a methamphetamine-fueled standoff that lasted 14 hours last fall.

Christopher Allen Shepersky pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree assault with a weapon causing substantial bodily harm. The 35-year-old from Deer Creek made a Norgaard plea on Monday, which means Shepersky doesn’t dispute what happened but claims he can’t remember because he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

He’s scheduled to be sentenced in Stearns County District Court on April 8th. The plea deal calls for a charge of false imprisonment to be dropped.

On November 1st, police were called to a home in the 100 block of Washburn Avenue by a woman who said he ex-husband, identified as Sherpersky, may have killed a woman. She said Shepersky was “using meth” and maybe delusional.

The woman 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 and contacted the woman over the phone, and 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 stated Shepersky had been at her home since Halloween. 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 allegedly held the steak knife to her throat. She said he was moving the blades 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 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.

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