A Middleburg man who insisted his father attacked him first will stay locked up for life after a Clay County jury found him guilty of stabbing him at least 20 times, including 13 to the head and neck, according to court records.
With the second-degree murder conviction, 43-year-old Danny Dustin faces a mandatory life sentence in prison as a designated reoffender.
On March 6, 2020, Dustin called 911 for help at his Wren Lane home. In addition to finding him foaming at the mouth and covered in blood, deputies found Richard Dustin under a coffee table unresponsive with his shirt pulled over his face and multiple stab wounds. Two kitchen knives were found on the floor near the men, according to the arrest report.
The son was taken to the hospital for treatment of his injuries and observation due to his altered mental state and intoxication. A search warrant was obtained, and detectives found a third bloody knife at the scene.
“It is apparent from the evidence on the scene that at some point in the struggle, the suspect left the living room and obtained at least one of the knives used from the kitchen butcher block and then renewed the assault on the victim,” the arrest report said.
The two had been at it throughout the day, and the investigation revealed Dustin recorded himself while arguing with his father on Facebook Live. The scene indicated that his father was sitting in his recliner when Dustin began stabbing him, the State Attorney’s Office said.
In a 20-page letter to the judge, he noted that his lawyer did a deposition on a lead detective admitting he does not know who stabbed whom first or whether his injuries were offensive or defensive.
“I told detectives 6 times that my father attacked me first by the freezer… But then he reckless[ly] omits that from the report,” Dustin wrote to the judge.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Guilty: Clay County man convicted of stabbing father 13 times in the head and neck
Reporting by Scott Butler, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
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