Art Teacher Faces Hearing In Knifing

A University of Idaho art professor faces a preliminary hearing this week for allegedly stabbing an international student during a fight in a Moscow bar.

John Willard L’Hote also was sentenced in 1977 to 11 months probation after being charged with assault with a deadly weapon.

L’Hote was arrested Friday night and charged with aggravated battery for allegedly stabbing Jose Luis Palacios in John’s Alley. He faces up to 15 years in jail and a $50,000 fine.

Palacios, 25, a student from Spain, said he was advised not to discuss the incident.

“Thank God I will not need surgery for this,” he said.

Palacios told police he was talking to a woman when L’Hote pushed him and started talking to her. Palacios said he told him not to shove him; L’Hote turned around and knifed him in the stomach, Palacios told police.

They fought in a parking lot and L’Hote tried to stab him again, Palacios reported.

L’Hote told officers he walked out of the bar and was trailed by six males, who “scared him to death.” He said he pulled out a folding knife and cut Palacios.

L’Hote made his initial court appearance before Magistrate William Hamlett and bail was set at $1,500. A preliminary hearing was slated for Friday. He was charged in 1977 with assault with a deadly weapon and received 11 months probation and a $100 fine.