Suspect in fatal stabbing Friday claims it was self-defense

Joshua Wagner, 35, faces a charge of second-degree murder for the death of Norman "George" Dennis, 34. Wagner is also charged with two counts of criminal mischief for breaking out windows as he pursued a mortally wounded Dennis, who was inside a house, according to the charges.

In court Saturday, Wagner said he stabbed Dennis to protect himself.

"For the record, your honor, this was self-defense," said Wagner, who had a bandaged left thumb at his arraignment in jail court. "I took the guy's knife from him. I was already stabbed myself."

The incident started sometime before 7 p.m. Friday in the neighborhood of about 20 houses along Nugget Lane, a narrow dirt road south of DeArmoun Road and east of Lake Otis Parkway.

A man told police he'd seen Dennis and Wagner in Dennis' vehicle just before a fight broke out. When asked if alcohol or drugs were involved, the unidentified witness told a detective he thought the men might have been drinking and possibly had smoked some marijuana, according to the charging document.

Minutes later, when the witness was inside the house, the man's girlfriend heard Dennis and Wagner fighting in the garage, and when the man went to look, he thought he saw the two men punching each other. But then he saw blood in the garage -- "a lot of blood," the charges say -- and a knife in Wagner's hand.

Dennis was able to get into the house, and he locked the door behind him before he collapsed, according to the charges. Wagner broke out at least two windows while yelling that he was going to kill Dennis and sprayed a fire extinguisher into the house, the charges says.

Dennis's girlfriend called 911 about 7 p.m. to report the stabbing. Paramedics took the wounded man to a hospital, where he died, police said.

Officers found Wagner at a house next door, where Wagner parked the travel trailer in which he slept, said Linda Greene, the homeowner.

Wagner came through her front door and slumped into a chair in her living room, Greene said in an interview Saturday. He normally only came in for the occasional shower or to use the bathroom, she said.

"He was in pain. I said, 'What happened?' He just said, 'I got stabbed,' " Greene said. "His hand was all bloody. He was holding it down by his stomach."

An officer knocked on the door, then said Wagner needed to come with him, Greene said. An ambulance later arrived and took Wagner away, she said.

When Wagner first moved to the neighborhood, he had been parking his trailer in the driveway of the light blue rented home next door, where the stabbing occurred, Greene said. She never spoke with the renters, apparently Dennis and his girlfriend, who moved into the blue house about two months ago, Greene said.

During the first week of October, the out-of-town landlords told Wagner he couldn't park there anymore, so Greene offered to let him stay in her driveway for $100.

"He was always cordial," Greene said.

Two men in white plastic suits carried cleaning supplies into the blue house Saturday while a car drove past, the occupants craning their necks. Dorothy Wilhelm walked down the tree-lined lane with her little white dog, Cosmo, and watched the men walking from the house to their van and back again.

"It really disturbs me," Wilhelm said. "It's a really nice neighborhood. Most people here are retired."

Across the street at the house where they've lived since 1978, Duane and Pat Brown said they arrived home Friday night after the stabbing.

"The place was just covered with cops," Duane Brown said.

The neighborhood is usually quiet, Brown said. At least, it had been until Dennis and his girlfriend rented the blue house about two months earlier, he said.

"It's just been chaos since they moved in," Brown said. They've seen cars and people coming and going, he said. The Browns, who live about 100 yards away, up a hill, said they heard people yelling at each other about the beat-up trailer about two weeks ago, just before it was moved next door to Greene's driveway.

"There was some bad blood there, for sure," Brown said. According to court records, Wagner and Dennis have extensive criminal records. Dennis' past charges include assault, drunken driving, criminal mischief and drug possession. Wagner's include assault, theft and resisting arrest.

At his arraignment, Wagner told a judge he last worked in construction hanging sheetrock and that he didn't have much money.

"No matter what the bail is, I can't afford it," Wagner said.

The judge set bail at $300,000 cash.

Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.