A Bloomington man was found stabbed to death in his apartment Friday with his own knife, which police described as a homemade dagger, after being struck by a machete, officers said.
Jeffrey Hahn, 51, was arrested Monday and charged with the murder of 64-year-old David Pierce.
Pierce incurred multiple stab wounds, but the coroner’s report said he died from a hit to his carotid artery.
Police said Hahn entered Pierce’s apartment sometime Thursday afternoon. A witness who saw the two together Thursday said Hahn was there asking about meth, but Pierce didn’t have any.
Pierce and Hahn smoked spice, a synthetic cannabis, before getting into a fight at the apartment. Hahn told police he left when the fight got physical.
He told police he returned later to pick up cigarettes and the synthetic cannabis he had left in Pierce’s apartment.
Pierce was angry with Hahn because he was still cleaning up the mess their earlier fight had caused, Hahn told officers. The apartment was tidy when police entered it. Sgt. Dana Cole said everything had a place.
The two began arguing, and Hahn struck Pierce with an old, rusted machete, knocking him down. The machete did not cause any of the stab wounds, officers said. It was too worn.
Hahn then grabbed one of the many knives in the apartment — there seemed to be a collection on display, police said — and hit Pierce, breaking his jaw before stabbing him in the neck.
The knife had an 8.75 inch serrated blade that was secured to a mismatched hilt and handle with a standard Philip’s screw, Cole said.
Hahn later claimed Pierce hit him in the nose with a bat before the stabbing. Cole said there were multiple bats in the apartment.
The dagger was still in Pierce’s neck when he was found in a pool of blood in the northwest corner of his home Friday.
He was found by the witness from Thursday, a friend of Hahn's. The friend told police Hahn, who he didn’t know, made him uncomfortable when they met the day before.
BPD tracked Hahn down through a description of him given by the witness. Hahn was located at his residence around 4 p.m. Monday.
He reportedly told officers Pierce’s spirit told him to kill him. Hahn’s family attributed his mental heath to prior drug use, police said.
Hahn and Pierce knew each other from both formerly being transient. Pierce had only lived in the apartment he was found in since Dec. 2017.
Pierce’s family has been notified of his death.
