Opposing Counsel's Warning Comes Too Late; Lawyer, 54, Is Stabbed 12 Times in Her Office
Updated: In a new incident among a spate of case-related violent attacks on lawyers in recent weeks, a Minnesota man has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing his ex-wife’s attorney a dozen times in her law office Friday.
Terri Ann Melcher, 54, was alone in her Fridley, Minn., office at the time and called 911 after the suspect, Sheikh Nyane, departed, KARE 11 reports. She is in critical but stable condition and is expected to survive.
As a subsequent ABAJournal.com post details, Melcher suffered what an Anoka County sheriff’s officer described as “horrible injuries” in a rare case-related attack on an officer of the court. It is at least the second such alleged incident in the metropolitan area within less than a decade, however: Rick Hendrickson surviving being shot in the neck outside a Minneapolis courtroom in 2003 by a cousin of the client he was representing in an inheritance dispute.
Nyane, 32, who reportedly turned himself in and confessed to authorities Friday, had recently lost custody of his child.
Relying on information from police, the station reports that Nyane’s attorney called Melcher’s office to warn her that his client might become violent. However, the message wasn’t received until today, when her law office opened for business.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Seeming Case-Related Slayings This Week: 3 Judges, 2 Clerks, 1 Lawyer, 11 Others”
Updated on June 17 to include information from subsequent ABAJournal.com post.
