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BOUNTIFUL, Utah, May 13, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — Police have arrested a suspect in the late Thursday night stabbings, one in Mueller Park, the other in another area of Bountiful.
Kane Thomas Fairbank, age 18, is facing the following charges:
- Murder, a second-degree felony, two counts
- Obstruction of justice, a third-degree felony
- Obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony
- Aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony
According to a probable cause statement, Fairbank met with a female victim, referred to as Victim 1, in a park near Bountiful.
Police said Fairbank lured the adult female using Tinder on social media. He allegedly “coerced her into his vehicle, and began attacking her with a knife, stabbing her multiple times…”
The woman had “significant injuries to her hands, neck, and face at this time.”
The knife — with a fixed blade nearly a foot in length — was later recovered.
Police say the woman continued to fight against the suspect and was able to get out of the car and run; however, Fairbank ran after her and stabbed her in the back, inflicting a life-threatening injury.
Victim 1 continued to run and approached several people who also were in the park, the probable cause statement says.
Fairbank then ran away, and “traveled in a vehicle to a different location in Bountiful,” where he disposed of Victim 1’s cellphone by throwing it in an area where he thought it wouldn’t be found. Fairbank then broke his own phone in an attempt to get rid of any evidence.
He then saw another female, known as Victim 2, and approached her, stabbing her multiple times, causing life-threatening injuries, according to the charging document.
Victim 2 fell to the ground and began to fight Fairbank. He fled to a different area, where he was taken into custody by police.
Both victims were transported to area hospitals in critical condition.
According to the document, Fairbank admitted, post-Miranda, that he had planned to murder Victim 1.
“He further stated he had been planning since he started interacting with her on Tinder,” he allegedly told officers, saying he invited her to the park with the intention of luring her into his car and killing her.
Fairbank also admitted to approaching Victim 2 with the intent to kill her, but after stabbing her multiple times, he saw people running to help her, so he fled the scene, the document states.
Fairbank told police “that Victim 2 was a stranger to him” and he “further admitted that he targeted Victim 2 because she was elderly, alone, and vulnerable.”
Kane Fairbank was booked into Davis County Jail on a no-bail hold.
Gephardt Daily will update this story as more information becomes available.
