December 2, 2009 in City

Husband faces charges in stabbing death of wife

Man is in critical condition; boy has knife wounds to his hands, police say

The Spokesman-Review

The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a domestic assault in Mead where a woman has died, a man critically injured and a boy with hand injuries.
(Full-size photo)

A Mead man faces first-degree murder charges in connection with an early-morning attack today in which is wife was killed and his son was injured.

Jeffrey N. Canino, 46, is at a downtown Spokane hospital - and under guard - where he is being treated for what police characterize as self-inflicted knife wounds. He is in critical condition and on a ventilator in the hospital’s intensive care unit, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

In a news release, Sgt. Bill Beeman said probable cause to arrest Canino was based on interviews and evidence collected at the scene of the homicide, 4518 E. Woodglen in Mead.

He added that autopsy of the victim will be conducted by the Spokane Medical Examiner’s Office on Thursday. Confirmation of the victim’s name is still dependent on release by the Medical Examiner.

The home, in a manicured subdivision, is owned by Jeffrey and Michelle Canino, documents show.

Michelle Canino’s brother, Mike Mettler, confirmed in a telephone interview that his sister had died, that her husband was hospitalized and that their son was also treated for knife wounds.

Mettler said he had no other details about what happened.

“She was just a real good person and a loving mother,” he said of Michelle Canino, a graduate of Shadle Park High School. He said she was employed, but he did not specify her occupation

Deputies received a call shortly before daybreak in which a woman could be heard screaming for help, apparently from a cell phone, said Sgt. Dave Reagan.

Deputies did not obtain an address, but used cell tower locations to move units into the area, Reagan said.

A short time later, a second caller gave an address of 4518 E. Woodglen Road, north of Mead in a development of upscale homes on the south side of Day-Mt. Spokane Road. The screaming could be heard during the second call as well.

Reagan said the first deputy was met at the door by the couple’s 11-year-old son who had knife wounds on his hand or hands.

The woman was dead and the man was critically injured with knife wounds, Reagan said. Both were on the floor in the kitchen, as was a knife believed used in the incident.

The man and the boy were taken to different hospitals just after 7 a.m., Reagan said. The man was taken to surgery and moved to a critical care unit, where his condition remained unchanged later Wednesday.

According to the sheriff’s office, Canino improved some this afternoon and is expected to be taken off the ventilator sometime tonight. Because it appeared he could become ambulatory, detectives moved to book him on the felony murder charge.

Mettler said that Jeffrey Canino was facing the possibility of losing his job at a car dealership because of the slow economy.

A neighbor, who declined to give her name, said, “They are a good, good family. It’s a sad, sad situation.”

23 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

Charlie on December 02 at 8:17 a.m.
What does the value of the property have to do with the story??

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Nancy Malone on December 02 at 8:24 a.m.
At this early point, the value provides a description of the area where this tragic situation happened.

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Zelda Krup on December 02 at 8:29 a.m.
The KREM website has a photo of the crime scene.

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Lewis on December 02 at 9:09 a.m.
the value of ones home has no bearing on the value of a lost life, a mom no less.

she could have been living in 300 dollar a month rental, doesn't make her death any less tragic.

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Scott Maben on December 02 at 9:20 a.m.
The home value might have news merit, if this was a home invasion robbery or something similar. Regardless, reporting it should not be construed as insensitive or irrelevant. It's merely part of the scene-setting in a developing story for which few other facts have been learned.

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Valleygal on December 02 at 12:26 p.m.
Come people… the location is very important. The reason why they describe the setting is 1) not very many other details are available, 2) it shows that violent crimes happen to everyone… on all socio-economic levels.

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Uptight_Spokanite on December 02 at 12:56 p.m.
Or a jaded public is so used to trailerpark brawlings and downtown alleyway knifings that when it happens in an upscale neighborhood it is news. Plus, there's the whole economic downturn angle possibly contributing to dangerous stress levels.

Just so sad.

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Erik_T on December 02 at 1:39 p.m.
I know the falther, and worked with him for years. From the limited information I have been able to obtain, it seems that there was a domestic event, not a home invasion. Evidently, the wife possibly went after the father with a knife, where he was stabbed in the neck, the boy stepped in to stop the violence, and was stabbed in the hands. The father then either turned the knife on the wife, or she inflicted a death blow to herself. This comes from a someone close to the situation.

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Zelda Krup on December 02 at 2:44 p.m.
What a tragegy. It will take a while before the sheriff releases info about who did what to whom.

As an aside, I am impressed that the communication response technology has advanced to such a degree that the sheriff's department was able to converge on a probable area where the call originated. It was too late to prevent death and injury, unfortunately.

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spokelooneh on December 02 at 4:25 p.m.
Holy crap, I used to live just down the street from this! It's been a awhile and I don't recognize the names. Terrible tragedy.

Oh, and that's in Mead, not near Mead.

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meadmomof1 on December 02 at 4:33 p.m.
ERIK T: I dont know how you even feel like you can say such things about this tragic event. You are speaking about my Uncle, Aunt and Cousin. We as the family dont even know the whole story so I dont know how you would know the story. Please think of the ones who are involved in this and what we are going thru before you irresponsibly and inconsideretly open your mouth and make such terrible accusations!

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Lindsey Carpenter on December 02 at 4:34 p.m.
Yes, in our society the location DOES matter. We expect this to happen in lower-income neighborhoods or cheap apartment complexes, not in a “development of upscale homes” or a “manicured subdivision.”

All satire aside, I do think it's disgusting that the Spokesman Review emphasized not once, but several times the upscale and expensive nature of the home this happened in. We certainly don't see this emphasis when it happens in a west-central neighborhood or hillyard, where it may not be a “manicured subdivision” but people still do try to keep their homes looking nice.

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Erik_T on December 02 at 4:53 p.m.
momof1 I do apologize if the information I posted has taken you aback. It is indeed a tragedy, I simply am stating what information I was able to obtain, not pointing fingers, or in knowing what the true reality of the situation was. I will pray for your family in their time of need.

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meadmomof1 on December 02 at 4:59 p.m.
ERIK T: Where did you “Obtain” this information that you say you have?

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Erik_T on December 02 at 5:00 p.m.
I cannot say. As you had said, I should not have said anything at all.

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JMt on December 02 at 6:48 p.m.
PS: Thanks to KREM-2 News for stealing a picture from Facebook, from a family member to use in the media.

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CautionaryTale1 on December 02 at 7:00 p.m.
Attn: Spokesman staff! Where has your common sense and decency gone? Printing the name of an 11 year old crime victim is way out of bounds. Adding that the child's birthday is next week? I didn't know I could be further shocked by your lack of professionalism. However, after reading that tidbit, I was. In case this has escaped you and your yellow news-team, these are real people. Set a higher standard for yourselves by showing some compassion, some decency and some professionalism.

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meadmomof1 on December 02 at 9:18 p.m.
JMT just wondering who you are?

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CheckingItOut on December 02 at 9:55 p.m.
MeadMomof1 and JMt: Would you really not have posted information about a situation you had that you thought others might be interested in? ErikT was just commenting on what he had heard. People speculate. That's our nature. He didn't intend to hurt anyone, AND he apologized with grace.

Drop the accusations and give him a break. Also, it is commonly known that when people post things, as on sites like Facebook, they are fair game. You have every right to be angry and hurt from this tragedy, but none to blame on others who had nothing to do with it.

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meadmomof1 on December 02 at 10:35 p.m.
Thanks checkingitout… good job! You put us in our place didnt you!

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JMt on December 03 at 12:36 p.m.
ErikT commented on NOTHING he heard, only on what he felt necessary to draw attention about the situation to himself because he “knew” Jeff. All of sudden, he's got inside information because of that? He apologized with absolutely no grace whatsoever. He apologized like he was some kind of secret agent who slipped-up by speaking, and if you couldn't catch any of that by reading his posts, you're just as stupid as he is!

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JMt on December 03 at 12:41 p.m.
Go ahead, delete my posts … its amazing that the local Spokane newspaper is afraid of the truth and reality.

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ljh85 on December 03 at 9:33 p.m.
i think it is sad and pathetic that people are acting like they know everything about this incident and judging jeff based off of a few paragraphs of information from a reporter none the less..more likely than not the information is not exactly the truth…take a look at all the other news sites and you will see numerous inconsistencies. please keep in mind that this was a family, must likely comparable to your family. put yourself in their shoes and see if you would mind being talked about like that or one of your family members.

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