An additional 72-hour hold has been ordered for James T. Mee, 77, Hope, who was arrested Tuesday on preliminary charges of murder and domestic battery after a domestic dispute at 222 Scott St. in Hope.
In a court affidavit accompanying the request for the additional time to prepare a case against Mee, investigators revealed some details about the incident, which resulted in the stabbing death of Charles A. Mee, 50, Hope, son of the suspect, and injuries to Barbara Mee, 78, Hope, the suspect’s wife.
The affidavit, from Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department Detective Terrance Holderness, states that Charles Mee, who had been stabbed in the neck, had called 911 himself and told the emergency operator that his father had stabbed him. Deputies said the incident was reported at 6:39 a.m. Tuesday to emergency dispatchers.
Holderness said upon investigator’s arrival, Charles A. Mee had coded and was being given life-saving measures, but died shortly after his arrival at Columbus Regional Hospital.
James T. Mee was at the Scott Street home and had been detained, the affidavit states. Investigators were told that James T. Mee suffered from dementia and was not entirely aware of what was happening, the affidavit states. After complaining of back pain, James T. Mee was taken by ambulance to CRH.
Investigators noted James T. Mee had blood on his face, hands, shirt, pants and watch, but did not appear to be injured, according to the affidavit.
Barbara Mee provided investigators with a statement, saying James T. Mee went into a bedroom and woke her up, saying “I stabbed him,” before striking her in the head with a wooden stick and then running out of the room, the affidavit states.
After obtaining a search warrant, an Indiana State Police Trooper found a folding knife behind a couch in the Mee’s living room, with blood and tissue on the blade, the affidavit states.
An forensic autopsy for Charles A. Mee by the Bartholomew County Coroner’s office determined that the victim died from a stab wound to the neck and blunt force trauma to the head and face, said Coroner Clayton Nolting.
Bartholomew Circuit Judge Kelly Benjamin granted the investigators’ request for the 72-hour hold on Wednesday.
James T. Mee is being held without bond in the Bartholomew County Jail.
For more on this story, see Friday’s Republic.
