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(NewsDakota.com) – The sword allegedly used to stab 18-year-old Abdi Ali Ahmed before he died has been recovered, Stutsman County State’s Attorney Fritz Fremgen said Monday.
During statements Monday at the sentencing hearing in Jamestown for 23-year-old Janelle Cave, Fremgen said the sword has been found and it is 21 inches long. Cave was sentenced to serve 11 years in prison Monday after being convicted of manslaughter and criminal conspiracy for her role in the death of Ahmed on April 30, 2011.
Ahmed had been stabbed and suffered blunt force trauma to the head. Leron Lee Howard is scheduled to go on trial Aug. 14 in the same case. He faces charges of murder and criminal conspiracy. The sword could be a key piece of evidence in Howard’s trial. Ahmed had two stab wounds, but a medical examiner testified during Cave’s trial that the trauma to the head was the likely cause of death.
During Cave’s trial in February, a lot of testimony centered around the item that was used to stab Ahmed. It had not been recovered at that point in time. It was described as both a large knife and a sword, and descriptions of it ranged from 14 to 30 inches long.
During testimony in her trial, Cave said Howard used it to stab Ahmed along a road near Spiritwood in the early morning hours of April 30. She also testified she had thrown the sword in the James River that morning, out of fear of Howard.
The prosecution presented a display shelf that had allegedly held the sword at Cave and Howard’s residence. The shelf was found in a dumpster with clothing that witnesses testified belonged to Cave and Howard.
In statements to investigators last summer, Cave had told them she threw the sword in the river near the State Hospital. Authorities conducted both a ground search and dive search of the area in November, but were unable to recover the item prior to Cave’s trial.
Fremgen did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking information on when and where the sword was found.