Murder charge filed in fatal South St. Paul stabbing

A Wednesday altercation in a South St. Paul neighborhood turned deadly after a three-second "flurry of activity," according to second-degree murder charges filed Thursday against a West St. Paul man.

Anthony Bruce Bartz, 30, is in the Dakota County jail awaiting his first court appearance Friday. He is accused of stabbing James Newman Frank, 36, in the chest after they left Frank's South St. Paul home, according to a criminal complaint.

Frank's roommate called police around 2 a.m. Wednesday after he saw Frank drop to the ground during a scuffle with Bartz down the street from their house in the 400 block of 4th Avenue S., according to the charges.

Frank died at the scene. An autopsy found that the fatal stab wound in Frank's chest went through a rib, his right lung and his aorta.

Bartz drank with the two roommates and a female friend in the hours before the stabbing, the charges said. Frank's roommate told police that Frank escorted Bartz away from the home after he began to touch the woman, who had "passed out."

Officers arrested Bartz shortly after a search of the area. He had a folding knife with blood on it, the complaint said.

Bartz initially told police that Frank fell on the knife during the fight before saying that he ran into it. But when he was told Frank died, Bartz became upset and said "that he never meant for it to happen," according to the charges.

Bartz's criminal history in Minnesota includes convictions for domestic abuse, drunken driving and assault, according to court records.

Stephen Montemayor • 952-746-3282