Police: Zoning Board Member Stabbed by Nephew

A member of the Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board was stabbed in the back multiple times on Monday by his nephew, who has been charged with attempted homicide, according to court papers.

The victim, William Fitzpatrick, was talking to police after the incident and is expected to recover from his injuries, barring any complications, according to The Express Times.

The suspect, John E. Bragg Jr., might have been upset that Fitzpatrick had been trying to evict him from his home at 256 E. Goepp St., where the stabbing occurred, according to court records.

Fitzpatrick told police that he is the executor of the estate of Jack Bragg Sr., who was his brother and the suspect’s father. Two weeks earlier, Bragg was ordered to leave the house but refused because he is “financially unstable and has nowhere else to live,” the court papers say.

Fitzpatrick told police that Bragg, 50, is “an unemployed drug addict,” the affidavit states.

On the day of the stabbing, the court record says:

• 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 at 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.

Bragg has a previous criminal record for offenses such as simple assault, false imprisonment, theft and forgery, according to the affidavit.

Bragg was charged with attempted homicide, two counts of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and possessing the instruments of a crime. He was arraigned before District Judge David Tidd of Lower Saucon Township and committed to Northampton County Prison after failing to post $500,000 bail.

This was the second time in two weeks in Bethlehem that a person was attacked with murderous force by a relative. On Aug. 21, Michael Lindgren at their Central Historic District home.

Injuries suffered by the mother, Dorothy Lindgren, 77, . Michael Lindgren is charged with