Post Date: 1st Dec, 2007 - 11:24am / Post ID:
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Machete-wielding Man Hacked As Father Fled
SAVED BY A FALL: Bail in the attack that injured two is raised to $200,000.
Sorry this is such a long post--I tried to cut out the parts that were not very important and it still came out long.
QUOTE A schizophrenic man who took a machete to his father's head slashed at his back as he ran for his life and continued the attack as the older man hung from a balcony railing, according to details of the case made public Thursday.
Leland Chasteen was arraigned in the Anchorage jail courtroom Nov. 29, 2007. After the attack, more than 50 officers cordoned off the area.
The victim only escaped by dropping to the ground from the second floor balcony, a fall that broke both wrists.
Leland Chasteen, 22, is being held at the Anchorage jail on two counts each of first-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault after the Wednesday morning assault, during which he also attacked his father's roommate. He made his first court appearance Thursday afternoon, standing silently and gazing blankly around the room as a judge increased his bail.
The morning of the attack, the accused man was getting ready to check into a psychiatric treatment program for treatment of his schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, his father, Corey Chasteen, said in an interview at his critical-care hospital room Thursday night. Leland Chasteen had been discharged from the Alaska Psychiatric Institute only last week, Corey said, and his son seemed slow and confused during the past few days, a sign that trouble was on the way.
Leland Chasteen came to his father's house and stayed the night Tuesday. The next morning, he found the sheathed machete, which Corey said he had taken away from his son only a few weeks before.
Roommate Jeremy Marvin woke up and saw Leland Chasteen standing in his doorway, but thought he just wanted to say goodbye before he left. Instead, Chasteen walked toward him, pulled out the machete, and hit him on the head with it. Then he kept on slicing, according to Corey Chasteen and court documents filed by prosecutors.
The elder Chasteen said he woke up and heard his roommate screaming. He said he came out of his bedroom to see what Marvin was yelling about.
"He had already been hit by the machete by my son," Corey said. "I was hollering at him to stop, what are you doing, and I recognized he was having an episode."
Chasteen promptly hit his father in the head with the machete, then cut into his neck.
He sliced his father a few times before Corey was able to run away, locking himself in the bathroom. He pulled the towel rack off the wall to defend himself.
When Corey thought things had calmed down, he wanted to check on his roommate and peeked out the door. He said he saw his son standing in the hallway holding the machete.
"He was just waiting for me," he said.
He checked a second time, and his son was still waiting there.
The third time he opened the door, his son was gone and he went toward the balcony. Then his son appeared behind him, chased him toward the balcony and slashed his back as he ran away.
"I took a swing at him that slowed him down enough for me to unlock the door," Corey said. "God was looking out for me."
Out on the porch, Corey jumped over the railing, holding on for a minute. Then his son came out and prepared to swing the machete at him. Corey let go of the railing, leaving a smear of blood on it as he fell.
Corey Chasteen was taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center, where he was listed in good condition Thursday evening. Both his wrists were broken from the fall, and he has a 5-inch-long slice on his neck from the attack. There are two others on his neck and back, and after five hours of surgery, he's got three metal plates in his head where the machete sliced into his skull.
He should be out of the hospital in a few days, he said.
His roommate, Jeremy Marvin, has a fractured skull and cuts across his face, but he was released from the hospital Thursday, Corey said.
At his court appearance Thursday, Leland Chasteen appeared dazed and was unresponsive to Judge Sigurd Murphy. His responses were unintelligible as Murphy increased his bail to $200,000 with a third-party custodian required.
"I consider you, if these facts are true, as an extreme danger to the community," Murphy said. "It appears that $50,000 cash-corporate ... Is a little low."
"I realize it's not his fault; it's a disease, so I will forgive him," Corey said. "But I'll never be able to let him back in my house again."
If convicted on all four counts, Chasteen is facing a minimum of 24 years in prison.
https://www.adn.com/news/alaska/crime/story… p-9399230c.htmlThe first thought that came to my mind was WOW, this is an extremely forgiving man. He has probably been dealing with "Issues" for most of this kids life. The other thing that I find so scary is that these things are happening in my backyard so to speak. There was a time when you would hear of tragic crimes and they would be somewhere else. Not anymore.
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