Man sentenced for Moses Lake stabbing

MOSES LAKE — A Coulee Dam man who stabbed another man at a party in rural Moses Lake in late November will be spending almost two years in prison.

Aaron Phaltzgraff-Miller, 24, of Coulee Dam, pleaded guilty in Grant County Superior Court to third-degree assault and was sentenced to 22 months behind prison bars.

On Nov. 25, 2017 the Grant County Sheriff’s Office received a report of a stabbing in the 11300 block of Road 14 Northeast, in rural Moses Lake. Deputies were advised the suspect, Phaltzgraff-Miller, left the area and the male stabbing victim remained at the scene. Deputies contacted the victim at the location, who had been stabbed in the neck and was transported to the hospital by medics. A witness at the scene told deputies Phaltzgraff-Miller was jealous of the way the victim was acting with his, Phaltzgraff-Miller’s, girlfriend.

The two men butted heads for a length of time before the actual stabbing and had to be separated several times. The witness said he didn’t see a knife, but when Phaltzgraff-Miller and the victim were fighting he said he saw Phaltzgraff-Miller make a back-and-forth motion at the victim with his hand. Deputies later located a pocketknife with blood on it near where the stabbing occurred.

The witness further said everyone at the residence had been drinking before the stabbing and Phaltzgraff-Miller was acting aggressive and trying to start fights. At some point in the evening the victim got into the vehicle of Phaltzgraff-Miller’s girlfriend and the two started fighting. Phaltzgraff-Miller started punching the man and the witness said it looked as if there was something in Phaltzgraff-Miller’s hand as he was punching the victim.

The victim gave deputies similar statements and said he never saw a knife, but he said he was adamant Phaltzgraff-Miller was the only person who could have stabbed him. Phaltzgraff-Miller and his girlfriend were later arrested and his girlfriend told deputies she was the one who stabbed the victim because “he was on top of her and strangling her, and she was in fear for her life.”

Phaltzgraff-Miller gave a similar initial statement and said the victim was on top of his girlfriend and assaulting her so he got him off of her. He said he was pulled off of the victim and the victim assaulted his girlfriend again, which is why he said they left the residence. He also claimed he never saw a knife or blood when he was at the stabbing scene.

Court documents indicate the charges that were initially filed against Phaltzgraff-Miller’s girlfriend were dismissed without prejudice, which means prosecutors can refile charges against her in late February.