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Ind. prisoner stabs cellmate because of his snoring

Police say a 33-year-old inmate stabbed his 71-year-old cellmate more than 10 times

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Pictured is the Miami Correctional Facility.

Photo/DOC

By Carson Gerber
Kokomo Tribune

BUNKER HILL, Ind. — Police say a 33-year-old inmate at Miami Correctional Facility stabbed his 71-year-old cellmate more than 10 times after the younger man may have become upset at his cellmate’s snoring.

Shawn Kidwell was served a Miami Superior Court I arrest warrant Wednesday on a felony charge of aggravated battery, and now also faces a charge for being a habitual offender.

Investigators say Kidwell stabbed Donald Tiffin multiple times with a homemade weapon on Sept. 24 while the two were in their cell.

After the altercation, Tiffin was flown via medical helicopter to a South Bend hospital, where he was treated for pneumothorax, an air leak between the lung and chest wall, due to a stab wound or penetrating trauma. Tiffin recovered and eventually was transferred to another prison.

Tiffin told investigators after his release from the hospital that Kidwell stabbed him after he became angry at him. Tiffin indicated one reason Kidwell may have been upset was because of his snoring, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

Tiffin said Kidwell stabbed him around 10 times in the back of the head, two times in the face and six to seven times in the back, according to the affidavit. He said after the stabbing, Kidwell told him he was “lucky his weapon broke, because if not, he would be dead.”

After the stabbing, the cell block in the prison was put on lock down and crime tape was put up in the day room near the cell where the stabbing happened, according to the affidavit.

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