Woman tried to save friend, witness says

Delores McMartin was stabbed in the back as she came to the aid of her dying friend.

It was a brave but sadly futile attempt to save Carmel Christians’ life. A life McMartin had already done everything she could to protect; giving her friend support and a place to stay when she was in need.

McMartin’s neighbour, who did not want to be named, watched in horror from her front window as the two women were attacked by a knifewielding man outside McMartin’s Chaparral Valley home Wednesday morning, before rushing across the street to lend a hand herself.

Carmel Christians died at the scene, after having been stabbed once in the leg and several times in the torso. Police are hunting for her estranged husband, James Christians, in connection with the incident.

McMartin is recovering in hospital with stab wounds.

The neighbour thought something was wrong Wednesday morning when her dog was barking at the window. “Then we heard screams. We thought it was a coyote. My son looked through the window. He told me ‘Mom, phone 911’ and closed the door.”

The two watched in fear as the man stabbed Christians repeatedly while McMartin tried to help her.

“He was on the ground when Delores came from the back and grabbed the guy and pulled him,” the neighbour recalled.

“She was very brave. She was trying to help her ... but then (the attacker) stabbed her in the back. I think in a way she saved (Carmel) because I think the guy saw there were too many people watching in the windows and he just got out. If not, he would probably continue.

“I think she was very brave to do that. How many people would just phone 911? I wouldn’t go at a guy with a knife.”

As soon as the attacker had fled, the neighbour and her son rushed outside. Her son went to Christians, she went to McMartin.

Her son was still talking to a 911 operator, and the pair followed the dispatcher’s instruction by putting pressure on the women’s wounds with towels.

“At the beginning my son was just doing it with his hand on his shirt. We didn’t know how terrible it was.”

Police and fire crews soon arrived but there was little they could do to help. The neighbour remembers McMartin giving them a full description of the attacker.

“Then the paramedics came and they just took care of Delores and I saw Carm was pretty much gone.

“They (covered) her and said she was dead.”

The neighbour visited McMartin in hospital Wednesday. She may need surgery, she said, as the knife wound is close to her spine.

“She is sad but I think she’s going to make it. She is strong.”

The neighbour met Christians, a “nice lady,” once, after McMartin recently took her in so she could escape her violent husband.

She admired the act of sheltering a friend who needed refuge.

“Delores is very gentle, very kind, but I wasn’t surprised that she grabbed the guy. She’s that type of person. She risked her life.”