Suspect used a 10-inch knife to kill Preston man following party, court documents say
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PRESTON — A suspect arrested Tuesday for the murder of a Preston man told detectives he stabbed the victim multiple times with a hunting knife following a party.
Marlin McQueen, 35, is charged with first-degree murder after Wilden Lovin Jr., 31, was found dead in his Preston home Saturday. McQueen is being held on a $1 million dollar bond and if convicted, he could face the death penalty or up to life-in-prison.
Franklin County Sheriff deputies responded to Lovin’s home on Saturday around 2 p.m. Lovin’s friend had arrived at the house and called 911 after finding Lovin dead in the bathroom, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by EastIdahoNews.com. The friend told dispatchers there was a large amount of blood.
As deputies entered the home, they noticed a smear of blood on a wall next to a closed door. The deputies also reported seeing drops of blood on the tile floor from what looked like the bathroom door to a bedroom entrance. Investigators also found drops of blood around other areas of the home.
“I walked into the bedroom and their (sic) was blood all over the floor,” a deputy wrote in his report. “Their (sic) was a bunch of clothes laying on the floor that was also covered in blood.”
The two deputies on scene entered the bathroom where a door was stopped by a body. They called Franklin County Sheriff David Fryar and said they suspected foul play because of the amount of blood that was spread throughout the home, according to court documents.
The second deputy noted in his report that he could see two puncture wounds in Lovin’s upper back.
Deputies interviewed multiple witnesses who said there had been a party at Lovin’s home on Friday – the night before his death. McQueen was reportedly at the party and a witness told deputies that sometime on Friday night McQueen asked to borrow some bleach.
Court documents indicate deputies served a search warrant at the home where McQueen was staying and found two pairs of pants with blood on them. They also discovered recently washed clothes that were identified as McQueen’s. His boots were seized as evidence.
“During an interview with Detective Hamilton, Marlin McQueen confessed to killing Wilden Lovin on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 26. He advised that he had gone to his vehicle and retrieved his knife and returned to the house and went to Wilden’s bedroom,” according to the probable cause statement.
During the interview, McQueen allegedly told detectives he used a 10-inch buck knife to stab Lovin multiple times. He then allegedly took the knife, hid it in a stuffed animal and locked it in a storage shed. Investigators later recovered the weapon.
Investigators say the blood-covered items matched the description of clothing witnesses said McQueen was wearing the night of the party, according to court documents.
Court documents do not indicate a motive or any reason why McQueen allegedly killed Lovin.
McQueen was arrested Tuesday and transported to the Cache County Jail in Utah where he is being held. He was arraigned Wednesday by Magistrate Judge Eric S. Hunn.