Man’s stabbing death
Police probe stabbing
IT WASN’T the first time he was stabbed.”
The frank declaration by an Earlville resident has shone light on the fatal stabbing of Marcus Russell Blair, 28, at a suburban street on Tuesday night.
Ripped crime tape hung outside 16 Downing Street yesterday (left) and a police van maintained vigil outside the cream weatherboard Queenslander.
Most neighbours preferred not to comment or speculate on what happened at the nondescript, high-set house.
Mr Blair was stabbed in the chest after an altercation about 11pm but later died at Cairns Hospital.
“IT WASN’T the first time he was stabbed.”
The frank declaration by an Earlville resident has shone some light on the fatal stabbing of Marcus Russell Blair, 28, at a suburban street on Tuesday night.
Ripped crime tape hung outside 16 Downing St yesterday and a police van maintained vigil outside the cream weatherboard Queenslander.
Most neighbours preferred not to comment or speculate on what happened at the nondescript, highset house.
“They keep to themselves and we keep to ourselves,” one woman said.
Details remain thin about what happened on Tuesday night; at about 11pm, Mr Blair was stabbed in the chest after an altercation.
He was driven by a man and woman to Cairns Hospital, where he died.
As police searched the property, they seized a knife and officers began to speak with the neighbours.
“I’ve made my statement to the police and that’s enough,” a resident said through her flyscreen door hours later.
But another resident was upfront about the history of number 16 up until Mr Blair sustained the fatal stab wound late Tuesday night.
“That was not the first time he was stabbed,” the Downing St resident said.
“Last time it happened, I called the police and ended up getting sworn at.”
The neighbour – who like others on Downing Street did not want to be identified – said she did not hear a fight at number 16.
“I heard a bit of music and singing out, but that’s it,” the resident said.
“I didn’t hear anyone yelling ‘I’m gonna kill you’ or anything like that.
“I dozed off and then heard my daughter say ‘the police are here’. I didn’t hear or see anything else.”
Aside from the tragic turn of events on Tuesday night, the street does not have a reputation for violence.
Police crime data shows that most of the offences recorded over the last quarter near or on Downing St were mostly drug, property and traffic offences.
“It’s a pretty quiet street; nothing like this has happened before,” one young resident said. Queensland police are questioning two men and two women about the death.