Man Gets 10-20 Year Prison Sentence for Stabbing Uncle

A Bethlehem man convicted of trying to kill his uncle by stabbing him in the back three times flipped the middle finger and shouted obscenities at his victim during his sentencing hearing today, according to published reports.

John E. Bragg Jr., 51, was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in a state prison for the attempted homicide of William Fitzpatrick, a Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board member.

"I don't think I've ever seen somebody who has shown less remorse than you have," said Judge Paula Roscioli, according to The Morning Call. The judge said she wished she could have handed down a longer sentence but didn’t think the law would allow it, the newspaper reported.

The assault took place Sept. 3, 2012 in the home that belonged to Bragg’s late father, who had made Fitzpatrick the executor of his will.

Prosecutors argued that Bragg was seeking revenge against Fitzpatrick for selling the home for half of what he believed it was worth, according to The Express Times. Bragg testified during trial that he believed Fitzpatrick was skimming the estate, the newspaper reported.

During the trial, Bragg also testified that Fitzpatrick had molested him when he was a boy, a charge that Roscioli dismissed as an attempt at “character assassination,” The Express Times said.

According to court papers, Fitzpatrick tried to have Bragg—whom he called “an unemployed drug addict”—removed from the home two weeks before the assault.

On the day of the stabbing, according to the court record:

·  Bragg called Fitzpatrick to tell his uncle that a pipe had burst in the home’s basement and that he needed help. Fitzpatrick arrived at the house about noon. Bragg told him that the pipe was still leaking and that he should go to the basement to have a look.

·  Fitzpatrick headed down the basement with Bragg trailing behind. Suddenly, according to Fitzpatrick’s account to police, Bragg yelled: “Take that you son of a bitch,” and Fitzpatrick said he felt what he thought was a punch in the back.

·  Twice more, Bragg yelled the same words, and Fitzpatrick felt the blow to the back. When he turned, he saw that Bragg was holding a butcher’s knife.

·  Fitzpatrick fled. He ran out of the house into the street and yelled for help. Bragg followed as far as the home’s porch, yelling at Fitzpatrick: “You got what you deserve.”

·  Fitzpatrick suffered three stab wounds to the back, another to his hip and also had a laceration on his forehead. When police arrived at the home, Bragg’s clothes were covered in blood, but he had not been hurt. Police also found a large butcher’s knife on the living room couch.