Victim may have sought divorce
Couple’s son told detectives his father, charged with murder, said his mother wanted to leave
A Mead man accused of killing his wife told their son he was stabbing the woman because she wanted a divorce, according to newly filed court documents.
Jeffrey Canino, 46, is in Spokane County Jail on $2.5 million bond after appearing Monday in District Court via video on one count of first-degree murder in the death of Michelle Canino, 43.
Canino was arrested Wednesday, accused of a brutal slaying that morning in front of his 11-year-old son that stunned neighbors and family members.
“I don’t want you guys to get in a fight like this,” the boy can be heard screaming in a 911 call, according to court papers prepared by Spokane County sheriff’s detectives.
The boy had knife wounds on his hands when detectives arrived at the home at 4518 E. Woodglen Road in response to a 6:30 a.m. 911 call.
Canino was hospitalized with what detectives said were self-inflicted stab wounds.
He was released from a hospital and booked into jail Saturday. Documents filed Monday detail the 911 calls from Michelle Canino and her son but provide little information about what might have led to the killing. The boy told detectives he was waiting in the car for an oral surgery appointment when he went inside to see where his mother was, according to documents.
When he found his mother lying on the floor bleeding from a stab wound, his father said he had attacked her because she “was going to get a divorce.”
The boy also said Jeffrey Canino was depressed about possibly losing his job at Camp Chevrolet, an auto dealership. A dealership representative directed questions to a general manager, who did not return a phone call.
Canino was convicted of violating a domestic violence restraining order against his former wife in 1993. He also was convicted of third-degree malicious mischief and trespassing in 1994 involving the same woman, District Court Judge Patti Walker said Monday.
Michelle Canino was stabbed three times in the neck with a kitchen knife before her husband told their son “it’s my turn” and began stabbing himself, documents allege.
The boy tried to stop his father from stabbing himself, which caused the knife wounds to his hands, according to court documents.
In an interview with detectives from his hospital bed, Jeffrey Canino said he and his wife were in the kitchen “arguing about her leaving.”