State v. Safford

Facts of Case. The defendant appeals from a judgment and sentence entered on a jury verdict of guilty of murder in the second degree arising out of a death by stabbing. The appeal was taken directly to the State Supreme Court which transferred it to this court for determination.

At trial, the State presented evidence from which the jury was entitled to find that the stabbing occurred as follows.

On the afternoon of September 19, 1976, the defendant, Van Owen Salford, Jr., age 25, started out to "find something to get into." He stopped by the homes of various friends, ended up at the apartment…