SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 21, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — A 50-year-old man is being held without bail on attempted murder and other felony charges after police say he stabbed a random woman at least more than 16 times while they were on a TRAX platform Friday.
Michael Nimmo is being held on suspicion of:
- Murder (attempted), a first-degree felony
- Aggravated assault, a first-degree felony
- Aggravated kidnapping, a third-degree felony
- Failure to disclose identity, a class B misdemeanor
Police were dispatched to the scene, at about 200 West and 900 South, after witnesses said a woman had been attacked and had numerous knife wounds.
Officers arrived at about 4:41 p.m. Friday, found the victim, and began applying pressure to stem the bleeding from multiple wounds. The woman, who was in critical condition, was rushed by ambulance to the University of Utah Hospital.
After reviewing Utah Transit Authority surveillance video, police identified a suspect matching the description of the attacker nearby at about 5:19 p.m. When police detained him, he identified himself as A.B.Smith, officers said.
Police said the video shows the suspect pulling out his knife from the right side of his black sweatpants pocket. He is seen opening the folding knife and then concealing it by folding his arms. The victim is walking closer towards the suspect and he appears to be bouncing around, as if he is getting ready to do something, this is all while he is looking at the victim, according to a probable cause statement.
The video shows the victim walking toward a ticket-vending machine on the north end of the platform, the statement says.
“The suspect is then seen following right behind her. The victim bends down to grab what appears to be a ticket in the machine, when the suspect puts his left arm around her head. This occurs around 16:38 hours. The suspect’s right arm appears to be in front of the victim when all of a sudden the victim jerks back.”
“The suspect is then seen holding onto the victim and not letting her go. He straddles her and pushes her up against the ticket machine and putting his head close to hers.”
Several witnesses walked nearby, the statement says.
“The victim is seen dropping the grocery bags she had with her. And this is when the suspect is seen repeatedly stabbing the victim, while still holding his left arm around her neck area,” the affidavit says. “The victim quickly falls to the ground on her back and is seen pulling up her left hand to block the attacks. On camera, the suspect is seen standing over the victim as she is fighting him.”
The suspect is seen on video gripping the knife with his entire hand wrapped around the handle, “and is seen going in an up-and-down motion at least 16 times toward the victim’s front, upper body and anywhere he could attack,” the probable cause statement says.
Witnesses begin to approach, the video shows, and the suspect quickly walks away.
The victim, who is surrounded by blood, stands, the statement says. Video shows her falling to the ground as a train pulls into the station.
Nimmo was identified from a previous jail booking photo, although warrants for his blood and fingerprints were also issued.
Nimmo declined to speak to officers without an attorney, and he is being held without bail.
UTA spokesman Carl Arky confirmed to Gephardt Daily on Saturday afternoon that the victim was still alive.
