By Shereen Siewert
A five-day jury trial for the 26-year-old man accused in the near-fatal stabbing of a Wausau man that was set to begin today has been delayed until Tuesday.
Aidan Dobbe, who is homeless, faces charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, with a domestic abuse modifier, along with a misdemeanor charge of possessing drug paraphernalia. Dobbe remains jailed on a $750,000 cash bond.
Jury selection was set to begin at 9 a.m., but the jury panel was sent home for the day, according to online court records. Jurors are expected to return at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
According to the criminal complaint, Dobbe was celebrating his 25th birthday on Sept. 24, 2017 when he had a verbal altercation with the victim that quickly escalated. Witnesses told police Dobbe and the victim, a then-23-year-old man with whom Dobbe had once lived, argued verbally before slapping each other outside a Third Street tavern minutes before the stabbing took place. Dobbe then walked away and into a nearby parking lot with the victim trailing behind, witnesses told police.
When the victim’s friends next saw him, he was bleeding from the chest and collapsed on the ground. Police were called to the scene at about 1 a.m. Sept. 25, 2017 at the corner of Third and Jefferson Streets.
When the victim arrived at a local hospital, he was bleeding internally and in critical condition, court documents show. Without surgery and numerous blood transfusions, the victim would not have survived, police said.
As the victim was undergoing surgery, officers were setting up a perimeter around Dobbe’s house on S. 9th Ave. when they saw Dobbe approach, carrying a 6-foot metal pole. Officers pulled their weapons and ordered Dobbe to the ground, and he was taken into custody.
Circuit Judge LaMont Jacobson is presiding over the case.
