East Lansing police officials released composites of two male suspects Monday that are wanted in the stabbing of a 22-year-old student.
Eric Miller, a criminal justice and psychology senior, was stabbed twice in the back while attending a house party on the 100 block of Gunson Street at about 1:15 a.m. on Oct. 8, police said.
The case has remained active in the month and a half since the incident, East Lansing police Capt. Juli Liebler said, but the Detective Bureau has been working on numerous other cases, slowing down the investigation.
“With the problems we’ve been having with the (Brandon D’Annunzio) homicide, the Detective Bureau has been overwhelmed with more work than our department usually has,” she said.
To deal with the extra load, this case was handed over to Dave DeKorte, a former detective now working as a patrol officer.
He’s been following the case and its leads but was unable to get a hold of a sketch artist for several weeks.
The stabbing occurred while Miller was trying to break up a fight between one of the suspects and Miller’s roommate, Matt Hurd, a general business sophomore.
The first man is described as a Chicano-Latino male, 5 feet 8 to 5 feet 9 inches tall and 160 pounds. He is bald with a dark complexion and is approximately 18 to 20 years old.
The second suspect is a male of unknown ethnicity, 5 feet 9 to 5 feet 10 inches tall and 220 to 240 pounds with black hair and a dark complexion. He is also between 18 and 20 years of age.
There is an insufficient description of a third suspect.
The suspects may have left the scene driving a black or dark gray 1980s Cadillac with hydraulic shocks.
Miller received two wounds in the fight, a horizontal cut 4 inches long and an eighth of an inch wide and a vertical wound 8 inches long and a quarter-inch deep, Liebler said the day after the incident.
He received 40 internal and 45 external stitches to close the two wounds.
Miller said his stitches have been out for a while now and the scar has begun to heal. He just hopes people will come forward with more information on the incident.
“Basically this hasn’t been too traumatic for me,” Miller said. “I mean I got stabbed, but the cops rarely find people like this, so I don’t have very high hopes they will this time.
“It would be really cool if they do though.”
Liebler also hopes that by getting the pictures of the suspects out and rehashing the details of the event, DeKorte may be able to dredge up new leads.
“Perhaps if someone at the party remembers these gentlemen or has seen them in the past or recalls hearing them discussing the incident this will make them come forward,” she said.
