2 face felonies for roles in Park Rapids stabbing over alleged affair

PARK RAPIDS — Two people from Park Rapids are facing felony charges for their roles in an alleged attempted murder over the weekend.

Court documents accuse 43-year-old Charles Justus of entering a Hubbard County trailer home and stabbing a man Saturday, Oct. 4. He is charged with first-degree attempted murder while committing a burglary, attempted murder in the second degree, and first-degree burglary and assault.

Deputies responded to Piney Park around 3 a.m. on a report of a man bleeding with possible stab wounds, and his 5-year-old daughter screaming for help.

The victim was airlifted to Fargo for treatment of his injuries.

Deputies suspected Justus in the initial stages of the investigation, according to the complaint, and brought both Justus and his wife, Danielle Westphal, 51, in for questioning.

While there, Justus admitted to using methamphetamine and believed Westphal was having an affair with the victim, which led him to drive to his trailer home and assault him.

"Justus said that the attack ended because the altercation took both himself and [the victim] outside, and [the victim] was trying to get away. Justus said he was not going to let [the victim] get away because he had too much frustration built up," stated the complaint.

Westphal initially said she was watching TV with Justus at their shared apartment when he left around 3:15 a.m. to buy soda and candy, according to police. She allegedly later admitted to helping Justus dispose of bloody clothing from the assault.

The pair drove out to a Nevis area church to talk about the assault, according to the complaints.

[Westphal] allegedly told police that she threw the clothing out of the window on Highway 34 on the way back to the apartment, about 1 mile from the church.

The complaint stated that Hubbard County Sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Stack found a pair of blood-soaked jeans on the north side of the road in the location Westphal described.

She is facing four felony accomplice-after-the-fact charges for concealing evidence of Justus’ alleged crimes.

Bail for Justus was set Monday, Oct. 6, at $1 million with conditions of release and unconditionally at $2 million. He'll make his next court appearance Monday.

Westphal's bail was set at $350,000 with conditions and $750,000 unconditionally. She'll also appear in court on Monday.