Experts weigh in on stabbing suspect’s laced weed claim
As Rockford residents search for answers in a killing spree that left four people dead and seven others wounded on the city's southeast side, a question looms about whether the man prosecutors say is responsible for the deaths smoked laced marijuana before the attack.
According to a police report, 22-year-old Christian Soto told investigators that something wasn't right about the marijuana he smoked on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at the Holmes Street residence of two of his victims.
“Soto admitted to being friends with Jacob (Schupbach) and going over to his residence to smoke marijuana,” Rockford Police Det. Joshua Peterson wrote in a criminal complaint charging Soto with four counts of first-degree murder. “Christian Ivan Soto said he believes the drugs provided to him were ‘laced' with an unknown narcotic.”
After smoking cannabis at Jacob Schupbach's home, according to the complaint, Soto told police he became paranoid, grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed 23-year-old Schupbach and Schupbach's mother, 63-year-old Romona Schupbach. Both victims died.
Though investigators have not said whether they suspect the marijuana Soto reportedly smoked was suspicious, experts say weed laced with narcotics can be a dangerous concoction.
“Depending upon what marijuana is laced with, and depending upon the type of strain the marijuana is, it will bind in different parts of the brain differently, evoking a whole variety of different behaviors exceptionally,” said Thomas Mlodzik, lead clinician at Restore Counseling in Loves Park.
That behavior could range from paranoia to violence, according to Mlodzik, who has no connection to the Soto case.
According to American Addiction Centers, marijuana is often laced with a variety of drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and LSD. Some users even dip it in embalming fluid and lace it with laundry detergent to increase the effects.
“On an exceptional level, the binding in the brain is not going to be in areas where the usual use of the substance would be,” Mlodzik said. “Therefore, people could act out very irregularly — violent type of activity.”
Mlodzik said an example of such an occurrence happened in 2012 in Miami, when a man attacked and killed another man after smoking marijuana laced with bath salts.
“He was eating the victim's face,” he said. “And that is not usual for bath-salt type of behavior. But for whatever reason, it must have evoked that area of the brain and evoked that violent behavior. That is one of the risks with the type of lacing that is going on today.”
Some experts say marijuana, alone, can trigger what's known as cannabisinduced psychosis, especially for someone who may have underlying mental health conditions.
“When you are getting high, there is a neurochemical in the brain called dopamine,” Mlodzik said. “And for some individuals, the dopamine that's rushed down the neuropathways can be overactivated, which is what causes psychosis. It's not typical but it happens. Some people are sensitive to dopamine overactivity under the uses of some substances. We call it an intoxicating toxicity.”
In Soto's case, Winnebago County State's Attorney J. Hanley said laced weed aside, his statements to police indicate that he knew what he was doing during what has been described as 21 minutes of terror.
“As I read the factual summary, there seems to be a consciousness of what he did,” Hanley said at a press conference. “He was conscious.”
Authorities allege that after killing Ramona and Jacob Schupbach on Holmes Street, Soto fled in his Chevy Silverado pickup. From there, Soto said he remembered “taking out” a mailman, referring to 49-year-old U.S. letter carrier Jay Larson, in the 200 block of Winnetka Avenue. Larson died after being run over and stabbed multiple times.
Soto allegedly then wounded three people who were able to fight him off at a house in the 4800 block of Cleveland Avenue.
“Christian Ivan Soto admitted to entering this residence and attacking three people with a knife,” Peterson said.
Peterson said Soto also admitted to beating three girls with a softball bat inside a house on the next block, killing a 15-year-old East High School student.
“He went through the back door and entered through the rear unlocked door,” Peterson said. “Soto said he found a bat in the kitchen. Soto recalled hitting the three kids in the basement with the bat.”
Police say after the bat attack, a surveillance
Jacob Schupbach
Romona Schupbach
camera captured video of Soto stabbing a woman and a man who stopped on Florence Street to help her. The woman is still hospitalized with serious injuries. The man, who's been called a hero and good Samaritan, was treated at a local hospital and released.
“As a prosecutor, I almost never discuss motive because it's not something that's required,” Hanley said. “I know, rightfully, the public wants some answer as to why this occurred. But I don't have a good answer for that, and I am not sure we will.”