Attempted murder charge reduced in rodeo grounds stabbing

Published 6:24 pm Friday, September 25, 2015

STANLEY, N.D. — Prosecutors have reduced an attempted murder charge against an Idaho man accused of stabbing an Alaska man in the North Dakota oil patch.

KXMC-TV reported that 31-year-old Travis Barnes, of Post Falls, Idaho, pleaded not guilty Thursday to aggravated assault.

Authorities allege Barnes stabbed 23-year-old John Daly, of Wasilla, Alaska, three times during an altercation in June at the White Earth Rodeo Grounds near Stanley. Authorities say a witness now contends Daly started the fight.

Barnes faces up to five years in prison if convicted on the reduced felony charge.