A Cape Girardeau man is accused of stabbing his father in back four times on New Year's Eve. What supposedly sparked the attacker's ire was his mother asking him to wear a different shirt.

Cape Girardeau police went to the 2500 block of Saddlegate Court about 6:15 p.m. and saw Michael D. Croyle, 26, on his stomach with his father lying on top of him, according to a probable-cause statement from officer Brett Hellmann.

The father was bleeding from his back, and officers saw two puncture wounds about 1.5 centimeters long in the father's upper left shoulder, a smaller wound in the same area and another wound between his shoulder and spine, Hellman wrote.

"I was unable to fully speak to (the victim) due to the pain he was in and the medication he later received," Hellmann wrote. "However, (the victim) did acknowledge that Michael stabbed him after (he) stepped in to defend his wife."

The mother said Croyle came to the house from the Lou Masterman Center, a mental-health facility where he lives, so they could go to dinner. But she did not like the shirt he wore and asked him to remove it, the report stated.

She said Croyle appeared to be mildly angry, then he rushed her and pushed her across the entry way of the house and into a wall, Hellman wrote. When the father stepped in between Croyle and his mother, Croyle grabbed a kitchen knife, and the two men rushed at each other, Hellmann wrote.

Police interviewed Croyle after reading him his Miranda rights, and he told them he grabbed a knife from the kitchen because he was hearing demonic voices telling him to kill or hurt his parents, Hellmann wrote.

Croyle said he intended to ignore the voices urging him to harm his parents, but the shirt comment caused him to lose control, Hellmann wrote.

Croyle said he did not intend to use the knife but brandished it because his father has special-forces training, and he did not know what he would do, Hellmann wrote.

Croyle was arrested Dec. 31 and charged with felony first-degree assault.

bkleine@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3644

Pertinent address:

2500 Saddlegate Court, Cape Girardeau, Mo.