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Ex-wrestler accused of contacting stab victim

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published January 18, 2007

Former pro wrestler Richard Slater - better known as "Dirty Dick" or "Mr. Unpredictable" - is in trouble again with the law, police said Wednesday.

This time, he's accused of violating a domestic violence injunction taken out by an ex-girlfriend, the same woman he was charged with stabbing in 2003.

Slater, 55, of Clearwater, called Theresa Marie Halbert three times on Jan. 11, leaving an innocuous message on the final call, police said. The next morning, Halbert found an envelope with old bank statements with Slater's name on them in her driveway.

Largo police Officer Michael Kirkpatrick found Slater on Monday at Morton Plant Hospital, where he was a patient. Slater told Kirkpatrick he could not remember making the phone calls, but said he might have done so while under the influence of drugs, police said.

When Slater was released Tuesday, he was taken to the Pinellas County Jail, where he remained in custody Wednesday in lieu of $10,000 bail.

In 2003, authorities said Slater went to Halbert's Largo home to collect some belongings after the two broke up. Once inside, Slater pushed Halbert to the bedroom floor and stabbed her in the left knee, right shoulder and in the arm, they said. Halbert was briefly hospitalized.

Initially charged with attempted murder, Slater later pleaded no contest to an aggravated battery charge. He received one year of community control, two years probation and 165 days time served.

Slater was a well-known professional wrestler who competed mainly in the Southeast for 20 years. During his career, he won five wrestling titles in three different leagues. He retired in 1996.

Jacob H. Fries can be reached at jfries@sptimes.com or 445-4156.

[Last modified January 17, 2007, 22:08:24]