Family fight leads to stabbing, attempted murder arrest

A man stabbed his brother in an argument over family property Tuesday night in Spokane Valley, police said today.
Christopher Leon Whitney, 49, is due in court this afternoon on a charge of attempted second-degree murder.
His 46-year-old brother, whose name has not been released, is in serious condition at a Spokane hospital, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.
The victim’s girlfriend, who called 911 about 11:15 p.m., told police that Whitney had been released from jail earlier Tuesday and was visiting their apartment at 8910 E. Broadway Ave. when a fight broke out “over heirlooms …

A man stabbed his brother in an argument over family property Tuesday night in Spokane Valley, police said today.

Christopher Leon Whitney, 49, is due in court this afternoon on a charge of attempted second-degree murder.

His 46-year-old brother, whose name has not been released, is in serious condition at a Spokane hospital, according to the Spokane Valley Police Department.

The victim’s girlfriend, who called 911 about 11:15 p.m., told police that Whitney had been released from jail earlier Tuesday and was visiting their apartment at 8910 E. Broadway Ave. when a fight broke out “over heirlooms and division of some property,” Sgt. Dave Reagan said in a news release.

Officers Marc Melville and Jason Karnitz “had to physically fight the suspect into handcuffs” when he refused to comply.

They’d arrived at the apartment to find Whitney kneeling over the victim, who was bleeding from a stab wound to the chest, police said.

Officers recovered a bloody, 4-inch folding knife from Whitney’s pocket. Whitney was taken to a hospital before being booked into jail.

The victim repeatedly told medics that his brother “stabbed me,” according to the news release.