Audio By Carbonatix
A man barricaded himself inside his house near Queen Creek yesterday when police came looking for him. Cops suspected him of attempting to kill his wife.
Mark Matheny, an alleged white supremacist — which seems apparent, given the swastika tattooed on his chest — then attempted to kill himself, which didn’t work out either.
Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Brandon Jones tells New Times that Matheny, 29, is suspected of stabbing his wife last week with a 6-inch KA-BAR combat knife, then beating her with brass knuckles.
Matheny locked himself inside the house when the authorities showed up yesterday, causing a nearby elementary school to be locked down.
When news happens, Phoenix New Times is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
After a few hours, a SWAT team went in the house, and found that Matheny had tried to kill himself with a telephone cord.
Matheny had informed his friends on Facebook of this with the classic “good bye [sic] cruel world,” and said he was doing it because of a girl — a status update that one of his friends “liked.”
He didn’t die either, and was taken to jail after being hospitalized.
Jones says Matheny has multiple swastika tattoos, as well as some Aryan Brotherhood tattoos, and although it probably goes without saying, investigators are pretty sure Matheny’s a white supremacist.
According to his Facebook page, he just got married in October. He’s also done prison time in California.
He’s currently facing a charge of attempted murder, and a couple aggravated-assault charges.
More details to come.
