Mark Stutzenstein, the man who stabbed his tenant Arthur Jackson to death following a dispute last May, was served a sentence of up to three years in state prison on Friday, April 2, following a guilty plea to Manslaughter in the Second Degree in February. A parole board may decide if he serves the full three year term.
Stutzenstein and his wife allegedly tried to evict Jackson from the room he’d been renting previous to the confrontation, according to information from Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy’s office. Jackson and Stutzenstein had a verbal confrontation regarding the eviction and Jackson allegedly knocked Stutzenstein unconscious. When he regained consciousness, Stutzenstein said he ran upstairs, retrieved a knife from under his bad and stabbed Jackson during a struggle at the bottom of the stairs. Jackson died from his wounds the next day.
Jackson’s family said they were satisfied with the manslaughter plea and state prison sentence because it would permanently memorialize the death of Jackson, said Murphy. He also said the case presented many evidence challenges and issues of proof would be difficult to overcome.
`The case was a very difficult one to prosecute and presented several legal issues which would have been a challenge to overcome there was proof that Stutzenstein had been assaulted by Jackson and knocked unconscious just before the stabbing took place, which presented issues of self defense in Stutzenstein’s home that would have been difficult to overcome. An added factor was that Stutzenstein had no duty to retreat in his own house from Jackson once Jackson knocked him unconscious. As a competitive weightlifter and boxer, Jackson was a much larger and stronger man than Stutzenstein. And, while Arthur Jackson more recently devoted his later life to boxing and weightlifting, his past would have also presented difficult issues for the prosecution to overcome,` said Murphy.
Murphy said the Saratoga County Grand Jury considered a number of charges before indicting Stutzenstein with Manslaughter, including Murder in the Second Degree.
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