UPDATE: Police on Friday announced that 39-year-old Fenton L. Jacobs was charged with one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder. According to a release, he was also charged with first-degree harassment and resisting/interfering with arrest. He was lodged at the Lemon Creek Correctional Center and is being held on $500,000 bail.
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A 39-year-old Juneau man is in custody following a fatal stabbing that happened early Thursday morning, police say.
At about 12:25 a.m. Thursday, Juneau Police Department officers were called to the scene of a reported fist fight on South Franklin Street near Front Street, according to a JPD release. A second report about a minute later reported there was a stabbing. JPD Public Safety Manager Erann Kalwara said the initial report was that five people were involved in the fight.
An officer arrived and found 47-year-old William Scott Campbell on the ground bleeding from his torso, police say. Capital City Fire/Rescue took Campbell to Bartlett Regional Hospital, and found that he had thee stab wounds, according to the release. Campbell was flown to Seattle, but died on the flight, the release states.
Scott Campbell is pictured with his wife Monica. (Courtesy photo)
Quickly after the stabbing, other officers arrived, identified a person of interest in the stabbing and found him. That person, the 39-year-old Juneau man, is currently in custody. He has not yet been charged, so police are not releasing his name yet. Police are continuing to investigate the incident, Kalwara said via email.
“I received an update a few hours ago,” Kalwara told the Empire at 4 p.m., “and they were still conducting interviews, serving search warrants and canvassing the area of the crime scene. We do not believe there is any additional danger to the community in connection with this incident.”
Campbell, who went by Scott, was a cab driver in town, his brother-in-law George Carteeti said in a phone interview Thursday. He was a father and a loving husband to Careeti’s sister Monica for years.
“He was a really nice guy,” Carteeti said. “He got along with just about everybody.”
The suspect has not been charged with anything, but if a homicide charge is filed, it would be the first of the year in Juneau. There were two homicides in 2018, one in 2017, none in 2016 and four in 2015, according to JPD statistics presented to the Chamber of Commerce recently. Part 1 crimes (offenses including homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, theft and other felonies) actually declined by nearly 9 percent from 2017 to 2018. That came after three years in a row of fairly dramatic increases.
Carteeti, who lives in Hoonah but is familiar with Juneau, said it’s scary that the fight happened on such a visible corner of town.
“I know Juneau is changing quite a bit in terms of crime, but this is ridiculous,” Carteeti said. “We never thought we would lose him.”
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
