Woman stabbed 15 times still in stable condition

Crystal River police investigate the possibility that burglary may have been the motive for the attack.

By JIM ROSS

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 27, 2000

CRYSTAL RIVER -- The woman who was brutally stabbed this past weekend remained in stable condition Monday at a Gainesville hospital.

Meanwhile, police spent Monday investigating the case, reviewing evidence and trying to determine how their prime suspect might have chosen his target.

The attack occurred before 7 p.m. Saturday at a home near Crystal River Middle School. Police said a man entered the house, probably through a window, when no one was inside.

When the woman returned home from work, the man surprised her and demanded sex, police said. She refused, and he used a steak knife he had found inside the home to stab her 15 times. Police said the woman was not sexually assaulted.

Shortly after the attack, Crystal River resident Alexander Whaley ran from police officers who saw him near the crime scene. Officers said they quickly caught Whaley at Citrus Avenue and NW Seventh Avenue. They found blood on his skin and clothing, which was partially burned.

Officers arrested Whaley, who remained at the Citrus County jail Monday. A judge has ruled that he should be held without bail.

Whaley matched a description the victim had given of her attacker. Later, while she was at Shands at the University of Florida hospital receiving medical treatment, the victim selected Whaley's mugshot from a "photo lineup" that police presented her.

Police will test to see whether the woman's blood was on Whaley's clothing and skin.

If Whaley was the attacker, police on Monday remained unsure why, or how, he targeted this woman.

"We can't put the victim and the suspect together," said Sgt. Mike Klyap, from Crystal River's criminal investigations unit.

Police on Monday revisited the crime scene and discovered a rough path leading behind the victim's house toward woods not far from where police arrested Whaley. Perhaps Whaley had used the trail before and had seen the woman coming or going from her home.

"It was a well-defined path, and it was pretty overgrown," Klyap said.

It's possible the suspect might have intended only to burglarize the home, not wait for and then attack an occupant, Klyap said.

"I believe that she just surprised him," he said. Police earlier had said it appeared the attacker was waiting for the woman to return.

The woman was coherent Monday and provided a statement to Detective Corey Sharpe, who drove to Shands to see her.

Police have declined to disclose the victim's name and address because she has chosen, as is her right under state law, to withhold identifying information from the public. They have said she is in her mid- to late-30s.

But if the victim is a mystery, Whaley is not. He is 38, a lifelong Crystal River resident and a frequent visitor to the county jail.

Included in Whaley's extensive criminal record is a 1983 rape, abduction and attempted murder case. Whaley served seven years of a 17-year prison term for those crimes, and then returned to Crystal River.

He has been in trouble, to one degree or another, ever since. "He's had some problems in the past," said Jim Cummins, an Inverness defense lawyer who has represented Whaley.

But, "in (light of) my recent dealings with him, I was surprised to hear of this incident," Cummins said.

Same goes for Klyap, a 13-year veteran with Crystal River.

Klyap knows about Whaley's record. He also knows that officers with his agency, as well as the Citrus County Sheriff's Office, have arrested Whaley several times in recent years, primarily on drug and assault charges, although those cases rarely have led to convictions.

Still, records showed that Whaley has avoided trouble for the past year and a half.

"We had an idea that he's around, but we haven't had many complaints . . . about him," Klyap said. "He's kind of been living in his own little world and not bothering anybody."

As for public safety, Klyap said he didn't think the public should be alarmed. Crystal River is a small town and this kind of violent crime is quite unusual.

However, he did remind residents that they should leave their homes or businesses immediately if they suspect a burglary has taken place. Police can respond and check the building.

The victim Saturday had noticed items out of place when she returned home, police said. She walked into the bedroom to phone for help when the attacker startled her.

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