EAST PUBNICO, N.S. — The RCMP have charged a Clyde River, Shelburne County, man with aggravated assault and breach of probation in connection with an alleged stabbing in East Pubnico, Yarmouth County.
Twenty-eight-year-old Dustin Kempton Crowell was arrested shortly after the April 28 incident was reported. On Sunday evening of a man was found on the ground outside a home in East Pubnico, suffering from a knife wound to his back.
On Monday, the RCMP issued a media release saying it was investigating an attempted murder, however this is not one of the charges that have been filed according to a Tuesday RCMP media release.
Asked why the RCMP would have referred to their investigation in that manner a day earlier since no attempted murder charge has been laid, RCMP Corporal Jennifer Clarke said, “Because that was the information we had at the time. Sometimes when you dig into things a little bit further it doesn’t look like it did at the outset.”
The investigation into the matter is ongoing.
“At this point we’ve laid those two charges and that’s the way it’s going to be for now unless we uncover different information,” Cpl. Clarke said.
In an April 30 media release the RCMP said the victim was still in hospital, recovering from his injuries.
The police had closed Highway 3 in East Pubnico in the area where the victim was found on Sunday night and re-opened it late Monday afternoon.
The charges were laid late Monday by the RCMP's Southwest Nova Major Crimes Unit. Crowell was held in custody following his arrest and made his first appearance in Yarmouth Provincial Court on Tuesday.
The incident is one of two alleged stabbing incidents the RCMP is investigating in the tri-county region. On April 27 at 12:18 p.m., the Digby RCMP responded to a call indicating a man had been stabbed inside an apartment on Birch Street in Digby.
According to a media release the RCMP found the victim inside the apartment and called EHS to the scene to provide treatment and transport to hospital. The victim’s injuries were not life-threatening. Police are alleging the victim was stabbed with scissors following an altercation with the suspect.
A suspect, 45-year-old Joseph Patrick Duffy, was arrested by police a short time later. He has been charged with one count of attempted murder.
