CHESTERFIELD TWP., Mich. — "It’s not even something you’d see in a horror movie."
In a one-on-one interview with 7 Action News, Joe Nicolai, brother of now deceased father and radio anchor Jim Matthews, describes Friday’s nightmarish tragedy on Bayview Drive.
“Nicole, my brother’s girlfriend, was laying out in the parking lot and was duck-taped and bleeding so my wife went out to hold her hand,” said Nicolai.
Nicolai says he learned of his brother’s murder and his niece and nephew’s trauma during a phone call from his wife on Friday.
Chesterfield Police were called to the Bayview Drive condo at noon when the 35-yeaer-old mother who lives there with the family escaped the home with stab wounds, cradling her five year old daughter.
Police say when they went into the home they found the mother’s life partner and father to their children, 57-year-old Jim Matthews, dead.
Matthews was also a beloved radio anchor at WWJ.
"He loved taking care of his kids, he loved being on the radio,” Nicolai said. "He used to play radio when he was a kid. He would play DJ, that was his passion. he was a really amazing person.”
Chesterfield police say they found Matthews 10-year-old son bound and beaten in the closet, and they found the 54-year-old male suspect in the basement suffering from self inflicted wounds and an overdose.
Police say the suspect was at the home frequently, his relationship to the family is unknown.
When asked if he knows of a possible motive for this horrific crime, Nicolai said; "There is no motive, I don’t know why he was in the house. I talked to the lead investigator, and my brother probably came home to this. He comes home about 5:30 in the morning and was probably surprised and attacked, and I believe that Hunter the 10-year-old was trying to fight off this man that was attacking and trying to kill his father, and that’s how Hunter ended up injured and tied and put into a closet.”
Nicolai says that the two young children will probably need help for the rest of their lives after this, “I know Hunter has sustained many wounds to his face and head and may be scarred.
Nicolai said there may be a GoFundMe set up for the children in the near future, 7 Action News will keep you updated on if and when that is posted.
