Man Goes On Trial In Stabbing Death

A Spokane man accused of stabbing his lover to death last spring claims he acted in self-defense.

Brian Grimm was forced to defend himself after his roommate attacked him with a knife during a drunken argument, defense attorney Maryann Moreno told jurors Monday.

In his opening statement, Deputy Prosecutor Larry Steinmetz said Grimm, 31, stabbed David Miller, 47, in the neck, intending to kill him.

Grimm, a convenience store worker out of jail on bond, is charged with second-degree murder. If convicted, he faces at least 12 years in prison.

The trial in Spokane County Superior Court is expected to last about a week.

The two men shared a house at 1303 W. Wabash. In the early-morning hours of May 20, they began watching videos and drinking beer.

By 3 a.m., when Grimm called 911 to report the fight, the two had consumed a case of beer, Moreno said.

Police found him inside the small brown house, bleeding from a number of cuts. They later followed a trail of blood from the house, down the block to where Miller was found dead.

Moreno said she plans to have Grimm testify, offering his account of what happened.

Steinmetz intends to show, through the testimony of police officers, how Grimm told different stories about the stabbing.

Grimm initially told police he had been assaulted and left bleeding in the house, the prosecutor said. The defendant later changed the story, Steinmetz said.

Moreno told jurors that the conflicting accounts were partly the result of Grimm’s heavy drinking that night.

, DataTimes