Charges: Woman fatally stabbed husband in St. Louis Park apartment

A 23-year-old woman is accused of stabbing her husband to death this week in their St. Louis Park apartment, according to murder charges filed Friday.

Alexis Loretta Jane Poole is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. She was arrested Tuesday after first responders went to the Westwood Gardens apartments in the 7300 block of Cedar Lake Road around 2:35 p.m. There they found Logan G. Barham, 22, with a stab wound to the chest.

Barham was taken by paramedics from the hall outside the apartment to HCMC and died there that afternoon. Poole was booked in the Hennepin County jail in downtown Minneapolis shortly before 8 p.m. on suspicion of second-degree unintentional murder.

Charges say that police had been to the apartment in 2020, when Poole called 911 threatening to harm other people and kill herself. Barham told police at that time she was "yelling, making strange statements, and holding two knives in her hands."

According to the charges filed by Hennepin County prosecutors:

When police arrived at the apartment, Poole was crying. She "gave different accounts of how [Barham] sustained the fatal wound to his chest."

"First, [she] told officers that victim was holding a knife in his hand while cooking and accidentally stabbed himself with the knife when his bad knee 'gave out.' She told police the knife would be in the hallway and that she had picked it up to see how deeply it had punctured victim, so her fingerprints would 'definitely' be on it.'"

Medical providers told police that the nature of Barham's injury was not consistent with Poole's account and there was no documentation of an injury to his knee. Neither Barham's family nor his neighbors corroborated Poole's story, the charges said.

Poole was "in disbelief" that Barham died, and she told police that if they proved he died she would tell them everything. Once confirmed over the phone with the medical examiner that he died, she provided a second version of events.

She told police she got into a fight with Barham and was holding a knife because she was afraid. She did not say Barham threatened her or advanced on her in any way. She said he tried to pick her up to move her out of the way so he could leave the apartment and she attempted to "push him away" while she was still holding the knife. That was when he was stabbed, she said.

She said that she initially thought he was not seriously injured but that soon the wound began bleeding profusely and she called 911.

The affidavit listed numerous items that police seized from the apartment. They included: a bloodied kitchen knife found on the floor near the kitchen, and a hooded sweatshirt and T-shirt belonging to Barham that were cut and bloody.

Poole said she went with Barham into the bathroom to assess the wound and touched the knife at that time, according to the document.

Court records also reveal that the couple were being evicted. They failed to pay rent between July and October, owing nearly $4,000, and missed a Dec. 23 virtual court appearance. The day after the stabbing, Hennepin County authorized the Sheriff's Office to forcibly remove them and any personal property.

Poole remains jailed in lieu of $750,000 bail. Attempts to reach her family in Florida were unsuccessful. Barham's mother in Minneapolis also could not be reached for comment.

Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.