ASSARIA, Kansas – An Assaria man charged with fatally stabbing his wife and wounding his sister-in-law was in court Wednesday for a preliminary hearing. Michael Paulson is charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. His sister-in-law, who survived the ordeal, recounted what happened.
Paulson sat in the courtroom with a pen in his hand as he listened to testimony against him from his sister-in-law, Jessie Putman, who claims he attacked her, stabbing her 17 times.
“I asked why is he doing this and he looked me right in the eye and said, ‘You're the reason we're getting divorced,’” Putman testified.
Marital problems were the apparent motive behind the death of Paulson’s wife, Valerie. She had stayed at Putman’s house the night before she died. They returned to her Assaria home the following evening. That’s when Paulson stabbed his wife, prosecutors say.
“I heard her screaming, ‘Stop, Andy! Don't do this,’” Putman said.
Putman says she called 911, but accidentally ended the call. When she tried to help Valerie, she says Paulson started attacking her, stabbing her in the stomach. She says she fought back and eventually escaped; making her way to a Salina Lowe’s where she got help.
After allegedly stabbing the two women, Paulson told his daughter he wasn’t done.
“He just said he was going to be next and he'll see me in heaven,” testified Kirsten Hoffman, Paulson’s daughter.
The next day, authorities arrested Paulson at a Bennington café. His arraignment is scheduled for September 20.
The Putman and Paulson families declined comment after the hearing.
