Spokane stabbing suspect jailed on murder charge

A Spokane detective was inside Mike’s Grocery at 2025 N. Hamilton St. Monday viewing video surveillance of a stabbing the night before when the suspect in the crime walked in the front door of the business.

Joaquen E. Vasquez, 50, was booked into jail Monday night on a second-degree murder charge in connection with the stabbing of Jay Dee Dodgen, 51, on the steps of a vacant house next to Mike’s Grocery.

Vasquez proclaimed his innocence during his court appearance Monday afternoon.

“I don’t fight with anyone,” he said. “I don’t touch nobody.”

When Vasquez was first contacted by police he was armed with two knives but told detectives “they have no blood on them,” according to court documents. However, police said there was a “noticeable” amount of blood on the blade of one of the knives. Vasquez had a cut on his left hand, which he reportedly said was from a thorny bush, according to court documents.

Police Lt. Steve Wohl said Vasquez apparently shopped at Mike’s Grocery frequently, so it wasn’t surprising that he came back during the investigation.

“I think people get used to going certain places,” he said.

Video surveillance shows that Dodgen, Vasquez and a group of people were on the front steps of the home for several hours Sunday night, court documents say. Everyone left but Dodgen, and then Vasquez returned around 8:30 p.m. There appeared to be a confrontation and then Vasquez left.

The video shows that Dodgen sat on the front steps for half an hour before lying down in the position he was found in at 5:30 a.m. Monday. The Spokane County medical examiner said Dodgen was stabbed once in the back and once in the chest.

Wohl said investigators have not been able to determine why the two apparently argued.

“We still want to contact other people seen in the area,” he said.

Vasquez denied being at the home and told police that he drank beer and then blacked out the night before, according to court documents.

Vasquez is being held in the Spokane County Jail on $750,000 bond. A prosecuting attorney said during the suspect’s appearance in District Court on Tuesday that Vasquez is homeless and a “multistate offender.”