A Cohasset, Massachusetts man dies after being tased by cops as the YouTube bodybuilder repeatedly stabbed at his Tinder date- Maegan Tapley.
A Massachusetts YouTube bodybuilder has died after being tased by cops while repeatedly stabbing a woman he met on dating app- Tinder.
Erich Stelzer, 25, of Cohasset died on the way to a hospital after police used a stun gun in an effort to subdue the man as he relentlessly stabbed 24-year-old woman, Maegan Tapley inside his mother’s home.
The victim was reported to have suffered ‘extensive stabbing and and slashing injuries’. Tapley is likely to lose an eye due to the injuries, police said.
In a statement to NBC Boston, the woman’s mother, Susan Tapley, said her daughter will recover from the ordeal, though may need specialists’ help.
‘She’s going to mend, she’s going to be alright … it’s going to take time to recover. She’ll need plastic surgery and an eye specialist,’ she said.
‘I feel for [Steltzer’s] mother,’ she added. ‘She just lost her son. My daughter almost died because of his lunacy.’
Authorities did not reveal the motive for the attack – which happened a week after the pair meeting on Tinder.
Erich Stelzer mental health: cause for concern.
Cohasset police arrived at a Church Street house after receiving a call about a ‘disturbance’ around 10 p.m. Thursday from neighbors. Upon arriving- cops forced their way inside the home- seeking to subdue the 6’7 bodybuilder as he lashed out at his female victim.
During the attack, Stelzer apparently acted bizarrely and may have suffered from a ‘possible mental health issue’ or an ‘altered mental state,’ according to a WBZ-TV source.
At one point during the attack, Stelzer said that he was God and that Tapley was the devil.
Fred Siegel, a neighbor, told the local station that ‘It’s unfortunate you never want to see anybody get hurt and you certainly don’t want to see someone die over something,’ adding that ‘It’s unfortunate that it happened and who knows why it happened.’
‘It’s a really sad thing,’ neighbor Ian Lyster told the Patriot-Ledger of Quincy, Mass. ‘It’s really good police were able to stop it right before the woman [could have been] killed.’
While police may have saved the woman’s life- questions are being asked as to whether cops used unwarranted force which led to Stelzer’s death.
‘I’m proud of the work that the officers did,’ Cohasset police Chief William Quigley said. ‘Although it is very sad that someone lost their life, my officers did a great job given the circumstances.’
The attack follows- Stelzer who lived with his mother, expressing concern about her son’s mental health.
Did cops go overboard in restraining Erich Stelzer?
Stelzer’s father, meanwhile, posted on Facebook– accusing cops of not telling the full story about his son’s death. ‘My son. Killed by cops. Here comes the cover up,’ wrote Harry Stelzer, attaching a picture of his son when he was young.
The post led to social media commentators taking exception with the father, with one commentator responding, ‘There won’t be a cover-up! No need! It is amazing that he was not shot!
‘DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR SON DID ??????’
‘You needed to get him mental health help.’
The father also said police tased his son four times. Cops have yet to confirm or refute the father’s account. The father remained adamant that he intended, ‘to find out what happened.’
Police have since said that Stelzer lunged at them with a knife as they sought to subdue him- a claim that the father doubted.
Authorities said an autopsy will determine the cause of Stelzer’s death. The investigation is continuing, the district attorney’s office statement said.
