Police arrest man who allegedly killed Pocatello victim with a sword
Published at | Updated at
POCATELLO — Pocatello Police have arrested a man they say admitted to using a sword to kill another man.
Ronald Dean Cantrell, 69, has been arrested and charged with murder in the second degree over the murder of a man near downtown Pocatello. While the Bannock County coroner has not made a statement, Cantrell’s arrest report identifies the victim as Wayne Weberpal.
On Thursday, at approximately 2:10 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the Laab’s apartment building at 1119 North Main Street for a report of a potential stabbing, according to the report.
RELATED | Police investigating homicide after dead body found at apartment building in Pocatello
“Upon my arrival … I observed a male, Cantrell, standing beside a silver passenger car with his hands raised above his head,” the officer says.
The arrest report says the officer instructed Cantrell to keep his hands above his head and asked if he had any weapons. Cantrell responded that he had a knife, and then the officer detained him, the arrest report says.
“Once in handcuffs, I started to escort the male to the front of my patrol car, at which time he stated, ‘I killed that guy,'” the officer says.
At this point, another officer arrived on scene and stayed with Cantrell, while the first officer returned to the back of the passenger car, where he saw a man, Weberpal, lying on his back in the backseat.
After removing Weberpal from the back of the car, the officer says he observed “a bladed object protruding from the left side of his upper torso, below his armpit.”
As the Pocatello Fire Department and EMTs arrived, the officer went back to where Cantrell was being held.
“Notably, Cantrell made several more comments about killing the victim, Wayne Weberpal, and I observed a small amount of blood on Cantrell’s wrists,” the officer says.
Multiple other officers’ descriptions of the incident identify the bladed object as a “sword,” and that Cantrell confessed to the murder.
“Cantrell admitted, ‘I stabbed him,’ and a male decedent was located with a sword protruding from his torso,” another officer says.
According to the second officer’s description of the incident, when he first approached Cantrell, he said, “He is a mad man. I got him.”
“(Cantrell) then stated, ‘I got the gun out, and I cut his gun.’ (Cantrell) continued making statements regarding a firearm equipped with a silencer and repeatedly referred to the other male subject as ‘a killer,'” the officer says.
According to the report, the officer found “a long gun equipped with what appeared to be a suppressor attached to the muzzle.”
But while relocating this firearm, the officer says a black trigger lock was secured around the trigger guard, “preventing access to the trigger.”
Once Cantrell was in custody, the arrest report says he told detectives he had a “deep distrust” of Weberpal.
“Cantrell described multiple times that he believed the victim had been lying in wait to ambush him,” the report says.
Additionally, the arrest report states that Cantrell couldn’t answer basic questions, such as what day of the week it was, and wouldn’t say whether he understood his Miranda rights.
According to court records, Cantrell will have a preliminary hearing on Nov. 18 at 1:30 p.m.
Cantrell’s charge of murder in the second degree carries with it a sentence of 10 years to life in prison, and up ro a $50,000 fine.
Just because Cantrell has been accused of this crime doesn’t necessarily mean he committed it. Everyone is assumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.