Madras man tells police he stabbed man for allegedly strangling ex-girlfriend

Published 5:00 am Tuesday, October 17, 2023

A Madras man faces felony charges of assault and the unlawful use of a weapon for allegedly stabbing a man with a knife at a homeless encampment in September.

Sampson Price, 40, told a Madras Police officer that he stabbed Davis Stwyer Jr., 34, because he heard Stwyer Jr. strangled his ex-girlfriend, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Jefferson County Circuit Court.

“I didn’t forgive him,” Price said when interviewed in the Jefferson County jail by Madras Police officer Ryan Kathrein on Friday about the alleged stabbing, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Price — who was in jail at the time for unrelated charges — told Kathrein he was high on methamphetamine when he stabbed Stwyer Jr. at the camp near SW Fourth and Maple streets in Madras.

“I regret, I regret it,” he said, according to Kathrein’s affidavit, which was filed Monday.

Price said the woman “left him and went back to Mr. Stwyer,” the probable cause affidavit states. Stwyer Jr., whose address is listed in Warm Springs, has been charged with strangling this woman and attempting to cut her with a shaving razor.

The woman was taken to the hospital for an evaluation but was later released, documents show.

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Stwyer Jr.’s alleged actions sparked a response from three law enforcement agencies and a SWAT team. Police tried, but failed, to find him, according to court records.

Price said he fought with Stwyer Jr. after the alleged stabbing, including an incident where Stwyer Jr. allegedly pulled out a knife and Price hit him with a tent pole and a board.

Eventually he said he saw Stwyer Jr. in the camp. “I stabbed him,” he told police, according to court documents.

“Mr. Price told me he stabbed Mr. Stwyer because he was ‘In a relationship with a woman, because he was doing that to her, and, I don’t know, I guess I didn’t forgive him, and I should of, because I’ve been forgiven for stuff,” Kathrein’s probable cause affidavit states.

Price said he stabbed Stwyer Jr. twice and tried to stab him in the face, the probable cause affidavit says. Stwyer Jr. was later hospitalized at St. Charles Bend with the stab wound and was arrested upon being released.

Price said he then threw the knife in Willow Creek, the probable cause affidavit states. He described the knife and helped explain where police could find it by pointing to a map that Kathrein drew on a piece of paper.

He has been charged with a misdemeanor count of tampering with physical evidence.