PUNTA GORDA, Fla. — A man has been charged after investigators say he stabbed a victim more than 40 times.
It happened on Monday at The Trading Post at Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda.
Deputies arrived and located a victim who had been stabbed dozens of times in the head, neck, and torso.
Detectives gathered surveillance video from the scene, which shows Edmond Clarke and the victim entering the store.
They say minutes later, without warning, Clarke took a pair of scissors from the counter and began stabbing the victim multiple times before retrieving several other knives and continuing the brutal attack, which lasted for several minutes.
The victim was airlifted to Gulf Coast Medical Center where they underwent emergency surgery.
Deputies arrested suspect Edmond Clarke, who has been identified as an acquaintance of the victim, on an initial charge of attempted murder. Wednesday morning, those charges were upgraded to murder.
Despite the upgraded charge, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno confirmed today that the victim is alive.
Clarke appeared before a Lee County judge on Wednesday. His next scheduled court date is Oct. 24.
