Missoula, MT: Missoula man stabbed to death; suspect charged with deliberate homicide in alleged crime of passion

By TRISTAN SCOTT of the Missoulian | Posted: Friday, December 11, 2009 10:45 pm | (2) Comments

A 28-year-old Missoula man was charged Friday with deliberate homicide for allegedly stabbing a man to death after learning the victim was having an affair with his girlfriend, according to charging documents.
Charles Ivan Branham Jr. is in jail on a single count of murder, and Missoula police are continuing to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of 22-year-old Michael Kinross-Wright.
Kinross-Wright, also of Missoula, was stabbed in the chest, side and back during an altercation at the Colonial Motel at 1410 W. Broadway, records state. He called 9-1-1 at 1:30 a.m. Friday and said, "Hurry. I'm dying." He was pronounced dead at St. Patrick Hospital after losing a significant amount of blood.
During an interview with police, Branham said he stabbed Kinross-Wright in self-defense after the man repeatedly tried to punch him. Branham's girlfriend told investigators that he had come home wearing a blood-soaked sweater and admitted fighting with and stabbing Kinross-Wright.
Justice of the Peace John Odlin set bail at $500,000.
Friday's fatal stabbing marks the first time the Missoula County Attorney's Office has brought deliberate homicide charges in 2009.
"In addition to the brutality of this offense, there are other felonies on the defendant's record, including a fugitive charge," Chief Deputy Missoula County Attorney Kirsten Pabst LaCroix said at Branham's initial court appearance. "We believe he is a flight risk."
When police arrived at Kinross-Wright's apartment, they found the man lying in a fetal position on the bed bleeding heavily. The victim told authorities he did not know Branham and was unsure what his motive might have been, records state.
Police later spoke to Kinross-Wright's fiance, who said the man had become sexually involved with his attacker's girlfriend, who police had arrested on a DUI charge hours before the stabbing.
While police were investigating the crime scene at the Colonial Motel, Kinross-Wright's cell phone rang multiple times from the same number; when an officer answered the phone, the caller identified herself as Branham's girlfriend.