Woman fatally stabs on-again, off-again boyfriend with butcher knife after breakup

A Florida woman was convicted Thursday of stabbing her boyfriend to death after their breakup in November 2016.

Melanie Eam, 22, was found guilty of the second-degree murder of her on-again, off-again boyfriend, James Barry. Prosecutors said Eam stabbed Barry seven times with a butcher knife at his Palm Beach County home before fleeing to Maryland, where she admitted to the crime, according to WBPF.

“How many times did you stab him? How many times did you stab him? That was the question. She said, ‘I don’t know, it’s not like I counted,’” Assistant State Attorney Reid Scott said, summarizing Eam’s recorded confession.

The defense argued that Barry’s mother’s boyfriend had gotten into an argument with Eam and, amid the dispute, Barry got between them. Lawyers accused the mother’s boyfriend of stabbing Barry to death, possibly by accident, according to WPEC.

Furthermore, the defense claimed the butcher knife used in the slaying was jammed so hard into Barry’s body that it bent—something they said would be hard for their 90-pound client to do. However, the prosecution said Eam entered the home, knew where the butcher knife was, and, in a fit of rage, retrieved it to commit the murder.

This was the second trial centered on the fatal 2016 stabbing. The initial trial concluded with a hung jury that couldn’t decide whether to charge her with murder or manslaughter.

Sentencing’s scheduled for April 3.

 

[Featured image: Melanie Eam, James Barry/Facebook]