bi11i
03-16-2005, 12:49 PM
Ex-Salem teen found stabbed, in critical condition (http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke%5C20201.html)
By Lindsey Nair (lindsey.nair@roanoke.com)
981-3334
The Roanoke Times (http://www.roanoke.com/)
A Roanoke mother is reeling this week over the strange turn of events that led her bright, 18-year-old daughter from a promising college career to a Seattle trauma ward, where she is fighting to survive a critical stab wound.
Bethany Turner, a 2004 graduate of Salem High School, was found in a Silverdale, Wash., apartment with a stab wound to the neck Sunday, said her mother, Linda Blake. Police say Turner's boyfriend, 31-year-old Jason Blaine, was found dead on the kitchen floor beside Turner.
Blaine suffered internal and external bleeding caused by multiple stab wounds, said Kitsap County Sheriff's Office spokesman Deputy Scott Wilson.
"I know nothing, absolutely nothing," Blake said Tuesday from Seattle. "I don't know any details and I'm not being told anything simply because it is under investigation."
Wilson said investigators are still picking their w ay through evidence in the case, which began about 9:15 a.m. Sunday with a 911 call from the Wellington Apartments in Silverdale, near Seattle. Wilson said the caller seemed "out of it" and dispatchers could hear a female screaming in the background.
In addition to Turner and Blaine, deputies who arrived at the apartment found an uninjured 23-year-old man who had been visiting Blaine and made the 911 call, Wilson said. The man, who was not named, was questioned and released by police.
Turner was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she was listed in serious condition Tuesday after undergoing three surgeries. Blake, who has been praying by her daughter's side, said the girl's actions within the past few months have been puzzling.
Turner, a gifted computer student, left for the Illinois Institute of Technology on scholarship in 2004. But Blake said Turner called her at Thanksgiving and told her she had met a man on the Internet and was moving to Washington to live with him.
Two weeks before finals, Blaine drove to Illinois and picked up Turner.
"Her dad and I were devastated, absolutely devastated," Blake said.
Since then, Blake, a single mother, has received telephone calls and e-mails from her daughter, who said she was looking for a job and planning to enroll in school in Washington, but that did not make Blake feel better.
"She seemed happy, but she has not been herself since she has been away from me," Blake said. "I was concerned for a lot of different reasons. She had a scholarship and a whole life ahead of her."
Blake believes her daughter met Blaine in an Internet chat room about the drug dextromethorphan, or DXM.
Blaine's brother, Michael Blaine of Cameron, N.C., said Sunday that his older brother might have taken a large quantity of dextromethorphan and stabbed himself and his girlfriend while in a hallucinogenic state, according to The Associated Press.
On Monday, Michael Blaine declined to comment further, saying only that his brother was "a good man," the AP story stated.
Dextromethorphan is a cough suppressant found in over-the-counter cold and cough medications, according to information from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
But the DEA reports illicit use of the drug especially by teens and young adults who abuse it in over-the-counter form and by purchasing a powdered form that is increasingly available for sale over the Internet.
According to the DEA, symptoms of DXM intoxication include hallucinations, euphoria, nausea and dizziness. Chronic DXM use can cause permanent brain damage.
In regards to DXM, Wilson said only that police are "looking into the whole picture" and that much evidence was collected from the apartment.
"The issue on narcotics abuse or alcohol abuse or both won't be known until the toxicology tests are back from the state crime lab, and that might be several weeks," Wilson said.
He added that police have not even been able to state the manner of death for Blaine.
"We have not been able at this point in time to give this a definitive handle, so what we've labeled this as is a suspicious death involving violent means," Wilson said. "We can't say this is a homicide, we can't say this is a suicide, we can't say this is a homicide-suicide."
Blake said she may be out of work and by her daughter's side for as long as a month. She worries about medical bills and her daughter's future.
"Ask people to please pray for her and her family," she said.
News researcher Belinda Harris
contributed to this report.
By Lindsey Nair (lindsey.nair@roanoke.com)
981-3334
The Roanoke Times (http://www.roanoke.com/)
A Roanoke mother is reeling this week over the strange turn of events that led her bright, 18-year-old daughter from a promising college career to a Seattle trauma ward, where she is fighting to survive a critical stab wound.
Bethany Turner, a 2004 graduate of Salem High School, was found in a Silverdale, Wash., apartment with a stab wound to the neck Sunday, said her mother, Linda Blake. Police say Turner's boyfriend, 31-year-old Jason Blaine, was found dead on the kitchen floor beside Turner.
Blaine suffered internal and external bleeding caused by multiple stab wounds, said Kitsap County Sheriff's Office spokesman Deputy Scott Wilson.
"I know nothing, absolutely nothing," Blake said Tuesday from Seattle. "I don't know any details and I'm not being told anything simply because it is under investigation."
Wilson said investigators are still picking their w ay through evidence in the case, which began about 9:15 a.m. Sunday with a 911 call from the Wellington Apartments in Silverdale, near Seattle. Wilson said the caller seemed "out of it" and dispatchers could hear a female screaming in the background.
In addition to Turner and Blaine, deputies who arrived at the apartment found an uninjured 23-year-old man who had been visiting Blaine and made the 911 call, Wilson said. The man, who was not named, was questioned and released by police.
Turner was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she was listed in serious condition Tuesday after undergoing three surgeries. Blake, who has been praying by her daughter's side, said the girl's actions within the past few months have been puzzling.
Turner, a gifted computer student, left for the Illinois Institute of Technology on scholarship in 2004. But Blake said Turner called her at Thanksgiving and told her she had met a man on the Internet and was moving to Washington to live with him.
Two weeks before finals, Blaine drove to Illinois and picked up Turner.
"Her dad and I were devastated, absolutely devastated," Blake said.
Since then, Blake, a single mother, has received telephone calls and e-mails from her daughter, who said she was looking for a job and planning to enroll in school in Washington, but that did not make Blake feel better.
"She seemed happy, but she has not been herself since she has been away from me," Blake said. "I was concerned for a lot of different reasons. She had a scholarship and a whole life ahead of her."
Blake believes her daughter met Blaine in an Internet chat room about the drug dextromethorphan, or DXM.
Blaine's brother, Michael Blaine of Cameron, N.C., said Sunday that his older brother might have taken a large quantity of dextromethorphan and stabbed himself and his girlfriend while in a hallucinogenic state, according to The Associated Press.
On Monday, Michael Blaine declined to comment further, saying only that his brother was "a good man," the AP story stated.
Dextromethorphan is a cough suppressant found in over-the-counter cold and cough medications, according to information from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.
But the DEA reports illicit use of the drug especially by teens and young adults who abuse it in over-the-counter form and by purchasing a powdered form that is increasingly available for sale over the Internet.
According to the DEA, symptoms of DXM intoxication include hallucinations, euphoria, nausea and dizziness. Chronic DXM use can cause permanent brain damage.
In regards to DXM, Wilson said only that police are "looking into the whole picture" and that much evidence was collected from the apartment.
"The issue on narcotics abuse or alcohol abuse or both won't be known until the toxicology tests are back from the state crime lab, and that might be several weeks," Wilson said.
He added that police have not even been able to state the manner of death for Blaine.
"We have not been able at this point in time to give this a definitive handle, so what we've labeled this as is a suspicious death involving violent means," Wilson said. "We can't say this is a homicide, we can't say this is a suicide, we can't say this is a homicide-suicide."
Blake said she may be out of work and by her daughter's side for as long as a month. She worries about medical bills and her daughter's future.
"Ask people to please pray for her and her family," she said.
News researcher Belinda Harris
contributed to this report.