Attempted Murder Charge on Hold for Mental Health Evaluation

(KNSI) – The criminal case against a man accused in a stabbing plot orchestrated by the victim’s wife has been suspended for a mental health evaluation.

Lawyers are asking that Christopher David Kane be examined to see if he is fit for trial and able to understand the charges against him. A ruling is expected by December 14th. The 20-year-old from St. Cloud has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault.

According to the criminal complaint, on August 12th, police were called to a stabbing at a house on the 1000 block of Benedict Drive in Sauk Rapids. They say the victim had been stabbed three times in the chest and once in the neck, back, and the back of his head near the base of his skull. He also had a large gash on his forearm.

The victim told police his wife, 50-year-old Maria Foster, picked him up from the airport earlier that day, and she instructed him to sit in a particular chair in the garage while she went to get him coffee. He said his wife came back and sat down, and that’s when Kane attacked him from behind.

A witness said Kane walked up to him a few blocks from the crime scene with his shirt full of blood and said he had a cut on his finger and needed a ride to the hospital. Police found Kane at the hospital, where he was arrested.

According to the criminal complaint, in a sworn statement, Kane told investigators that Foster asked him to come to her house and kill her husband because he was being abusive. He said Foster told him after her husband was dead, he could move into the house with his wife, 25-year-old Katrina Hunt, and a child and have all of her husband’s belongings. Kane says he hid in the garage and waited for them to come home, and once the husband was sitting in the chair, he came up and started stabbing him from behind.

Foster allegedly admitted to police that she convinced Kane to come to the house and kill her husband and corroborated the details given to police by Kane. She also said she communicated with Hunt via Facebook messenger, gave her the address, and let her know when they were close so Kane could be prepared.

Foster and Hunt have both been charged with aiding and abetting attempted first-degree murder and aiding and abetting first-degree assault. Their cases are still working through the courts.

___