By Shereen Siewert
Citing difficulties in the discovery process, the attorney for a Wausau man accused in the near-fatal stabbing of a former roommate asked a judge Monday to delay a trial — on the day jury selection was to begin.
Circuit Judge LaMont Jacobson sent jurors home Monday morning with instructions to return Tuesday while attorneys met in chambers to discuss the case of Aidan Dobbe, 26, of Wausau. Dobbe faces charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, with a domestic abuse modifier, along with a misdemeanor charge of possessing drug paraphernalia.
But just hours after jurors were sent home for the day, defense attorney Brian Bennett withdrew his request for a speedy trial and asked for an adjournment. Jacobson granted the request and the trial is no longer on this week’s court calendar.
According to a criminal complaint, the stabbing happened around 1 a.m. Sept. 24, 2017 in downtown Wausau. Witnesses told police they saw Dobbe and the 23-year-old victim talking and smoking outside a Third Street tavern when they got into an argument and both slapped the other at least once. Dobbe walked away and around the corner onto Jefferson Street and the victim followed him.
The victim then walked back around the corner bleeding from two stab wounds on his chest. He allegedly identified Dobbe as his attacker before he collapsed, according to the complaint.
When rescue crews arrived the victim was unconscious but breathing, officials said. He was transported by ambulance to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery, required multiple blood transfusions, and barely survived, officials said.
Officers arrested Dobbe shortly after the attack outside a home on South Ninth Avenue. He has been at the Marathon County Jail on a $750,000 bond since his arrest in September 2017.
Witnesses later alleged that Dobbe had been kicked out of the residence he shared with the victim because of his drug use, and that Dobbe and the victim were former romantic partners.
Dobbe remains jailed on a $750,000 cash bond. Future court dates have not yet been set.
