SANTA CLARITA (CBSLA) – A man suspected of fatally stabbing his wife in Santa Clarita early Thursday morning was captured late Thursday night after a more than three-hour standoff with authorities.
Michelle Dorsey, who was stabbed to death in a Santa Clarita home – while two of her three children were also inside – identified her husband, James Matthew Dorsey, 43, as her killer shortly before his death, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded around 5:10 a.m. to a report of a man stabbing a woman at a home in the 22800 block of Fir Court.
When they arrived, they found a woman with stab wounds. She was taken to a local hospital, where she died, the sheriff’s department said.
There were two children in the house at the time. They were asleep, did not witness the murder and were not injured, the sheriff’s department said. The third child was sleeping with a friend.
Driver’s license photo of James Dorsey, who is wanted for stabbing his wife in a home in Santa Clarita. 15. April 2021. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department)
Shortly before her death, Michelle Dorsey told authorities that James Dorsey was her killer.
She filed a death report and identified her husband as the man who entered the house, attacked and stabbed her, Lt. Barry Hall of Los Angeles to reporters.
James is a native of Washington State. He arrived Wednesday from Washington state, Hall said.
The information we have now is that he does not even live in the state, and they are definitely estranged, he is not even welcome in the house….. He probably grabbed it from behind the door, Hall said.
After the murder, he fled the house in the victim’s car, a white 2013 Chevrolet Malibu four-door with California license plate 7ALF904, the sheriff’s office said. Authorities could not determine whether he was driving a Malibu SUV or a 2008 Saturn SUV, which he pulled over in Washington state. Both vehicles are missing.
A man suspected of stabbing his wife to death in Santa Clarita is in custody the 15th. 2021 April in a standoff with Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy. (CBSLA)
Around 6:30 a.m. Thursday deputies found Dorsey in Malibu, in the rural community of Neenach in northern Los Angeles County, which borders Kern County, about 15 miles east of Gorman. He refused to get out of the car and a confrontation took place.
During the confrontation, he turned around in the car, brandishing what looked like a knife. At some point, he threw something out of the car. His cell phone was found at another location, making it difficult to contact him, the sheriff’s department said.
Crisis negotiators were called in, and Dorsey finally surrendered shortly after 10 p.m.
In August 2019, Dorsey filed a restraining order against her ex-husband in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Shortly thereafter, he moved to Washington State.
We’re all shocked, I don’t think any of us have even begun to process this because we don’t understand, we don’t understand how anyone could do this, Michelle Danielle Kemuel, a longtime friend, told CBSLA on Friday.
Michelle Dorsey’s brother is a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, CBSLA has learned.
It’s just hard to imagine in our community, I don’t know what to say, neighbor Blake Pockett told CBSLA.
We’re just devastated for the family, Pockett said.
In the meantime, the children will be placed in the care of family members or the California Department of Health and Human Services, authorities said. If you would like to make a donation on the GoFundMe family page, click here.
Related Tags:
michelle dorsey santa claritajames dorsey santa claritajames matthew dorseyjames matthew dorsey wifejames matthew dorsey standoffjames dorsey saugus,People also search for,Privacy settings,How Search works,michelle dorsey santa clarita,james dorsey santa clarita,james matthew dorsey,james matthew dorsey wife,james matthew dorsey standoff,james dorsey saugus,james matthew dorsey washington,james matthew dorsey washington state
