LEBANON — An altercation that ended with a stabbing that left the victim critically injured last week in Colburn Park in Lebanon was captured by a surveillance camera, according police.
In addition, in the hours after the stabbing, eyewitnesses reported seeing an “erratic” and “crazy” man along Heater Road and Interstate 89 who fit the description of the suspect sought by police.
Those and other details — including the victim’s identity — were revealed publicly for the first time in the police affidavit filed in support of multiple felony charges against Dahlton Fairbank. The 29-year-old Bristol, N.H., man is accused in what appears to be a random knife attack.
As of Monday morning, the victim, identified in court documents as Jefry Morgan, remained unconscious at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.
Fairbank, who worked at the Evans Expressmart off of Exit 16 on Interstate 89 in Enfield, was arraigned on Monday afternoon in Lebanon District Court. He attended remotely via video from Grafton County jail.
Fairbank entered no plea on felony charges of first-degree assault, second-degree assault, felon in possession of a dangerous weapon and reckless conduct with a deadly weapon at his arraignment. He remains held in preventive detention at Grafton County jail in North Haverhill.
Judge Daniel Swegert, who also appeared via video during the roughly 90-second hearing, set a probable cause hearing date for Aug. 12. Fairbank, through his public defender Renee Sargent, waived a reading of the charges on Monday.
Footage from a surveillance camera mounted on a nearby building shows an individual police said is Fairbank crossing East Park Street and entering Colburn Park at 8:46 a.m. The footage shows Morgan crossing from North Park Street to the park 27 seconds later, according to a police affidavit filed in Lebanon District Court.
A little over a minute later, the footage shows Morgan in the park being stabbed by an assailant. Then 14 seconds later, a camera captured the suspect running away Campbell Street.
Morgan, who received a stab wound to the left side of his neck, was bleeding profusely but managed to walk across South Park Street and about 150 yards down Church Street to Headrest, a recovery house, according to police.
The affidavit provides no background information on Morgan, although police last week described him as “in his 60s.”
Police were alerted to the stabbing last Thursday when at 8:52 a.m. dispatchers at 911 received two nearly-simultaneous separate calls.
The first call came from an employee at Headrest reporting that Morgan appeared at Headrest’s door “covered in blood. He was trying to enter” the residence, the employee reported.
A second call to 911 came from Morgan himself to report he had been stabbed in the park.
When asked by the 911 operator if he knew his assailant, Morgan replied, “he did not know because the suspect came up from behind him,” the affidavit said.
Minutes later, Lebanon police arrived at Headrest and found Morgan “holding the left side of his neck and still talking on his cell phone to 911.”
Officers began performing “life-saving measures” on Morgan, who in addition to the neck wound also appeared to have a stab wound to his sweatshirt.
“There was a large amount of blood around” Morgan, the affidavit said. When officers asked him if he knew who stabbed him, he repeated he didn’t know who the attacker was.
Morgan was then transported to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, where he remains, according to Lebanon Police Chief Phil Roberts.
Police issued a news release asking for the public’s help in locating the suspect, and received several leads from witnesses.
One reported seeing a man who matched Fairbank’s description and acting in an “erratic” manner on Heater Road. Another saw the suspect running “crazy” on the median between lanes on I-89, the affidavit said.
Amy Fairbank, Dahlton Fairbank’s mother, told police that her son suffers from a “delusional disorder,” which may have been exacerbated by use of the herbal supplement, kratom.
Medical professionals warn kratom can trigger psychotic episodes and paranoia. The Food and Drug Administration is seeking to have one of the main ingredients in kratom classified as a controlled substance.
Amy Fairbank told police that her son’s employer contacted her earlier that day to say he had left his job at the Evans Expressmart at 8 a.m. without notice, according to the affidavit.
Dahlton Fairbank later called his mother to say he was walking along the interstate and wanted to be picked up.
Fairbank told his mother on the phone that he was “sad” and made comments such as “I let them down today” and “I can’t get my head right,” according to the police affidavit.
Other relatives, unaware of the stabbing, came to pick up Dahlton Fairbank near Exit 17 on I-89 and drove him back home to Bristol. According to police, the family members later described Dahlton Fairbank as being “paranoid, looking around and (was) ‘bug eyed’ ” and having a “skinned knee,” according to the affidavit.
Amy Fairbank told police she only learned her son might have been involved in the alleged stabbing when a supervisor from his employer sent her a police news release.
“Amy agreed (the photo of the suspect) looked like Dahlton,” the affidavit said, quoting his mother as saying, “I believe it is him.”
“She said (Dahlton) has not been himself lately and is worried about him,” police reported.
Authorities commenced a search around Bristol and located Fairbank on Friday, more than 24 hours after Morgan was stabbed.
The affidavit does not specify where police eventually located Fairbank, who was transported to Grafton County House of Corrections.
