Man stabbed, killed in domestic dispute

A man is dead following an early-morning stabbing Wednesday in an upstairs apartment at 111 E. Lynde St., and the woman who wanted to marry him is charged with second-degree manslaughter in his death.

Timothy C. Rolland, 21, was pronounced dead at 2:02 a.m. at Samaritan Medical Center, approximately 22 minutes after he had been stabbed in the left chest area, according to Watertown police and court documents.

His live-in girlfriend, Krista Marie Goley, 25, the mother of a 5-year-old boy, was taken into custody at the onset of the investigation. She was charged shortly after 4 p.m. with second-degree manslaughter.

District Attorney Cindy F. Intschert declined comment when asked whether the charge reflects consideration of self-defense. A witness told the Times on Wednesday morning that less than three hours before the incident, Ms. Goley warned Mr. Rolland, "I'm going to stab you if you don't behave yourself."

"The girl said she was going to stab him, and she did," said the witness, Mary V. Bellinger, 115 E. Lynde St.

Ms. Goley, listed on a police report as married, had a bandage above her left eye and wore what appeared to be either a hospital gown or a nightshirt when she appeared before town of Watertown Justice James P. McClusky. At the recommendation of Mrs. Intschert, the judge set bail at $50,000, sending her to the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building.

He asked her whether she wanted to contact anybody about bail.

"I don't know anybody in my family who has that much money," she said. "I don't."

Ms. Goley is being assigned a public defender and was given a tentative adjournment until a preliminary hearing set Tuesday.

The official charge alleges that Ms. Goley "did recklessly cause the death of ... Timothy C. Rolland when the defendant did stab the victim with a knife in the left chest."

An additional statement filed by Detective Erika L. Derouin states witnesses said the two were involved in a domestic dispute "which turned physical between Goley and Rolland." The detective's document also says the witnesses alleged Ms. Goley stabbed her boyfriend during the domestic fight.

Mrs. Bellinger said she had heard arguments in the upper apartment "day in and day out."

Mr. Rolland was arrested May 9 on charges of felony criminal contempt, third-degree assault, second-degree harassment and petit larceny. He was accused of kicking and punching Ms. Goley in the face and of choking a man identified as Nathan J. Hitsman. He also grabbed Ms. Goley's cell phone to prevent her from calling police.

He pleaded guilty in Jefferson County Court on May 31 to second-degree criminal contempt and third-degree assault. He was sentenced to 89 days in jail, but with credit given for time served awaiting the disposition, he was released July 7, according to jail personnel.

Mrs. Bellinger is in a ground-floor unit of a four-apartment house, below the apartment where the stabbing occurred. She said she was talking with the couple about 11 p.m. Tuesday on the front steps of her apartment. The conversation was friendly at the time, she said, but during the chat, she heard the young woman make the stabbing threat.

Some time after the outdoor chat, Mrs. Bellinger said she heard more shouting and "stuff banging around."

Then she heard sirens, she said.

Mrs. Bellinger, who has lived in the same apartment for 35 years, said the couple and the child had lived upstairs about a year. She did not know their names.

City police were notified of the stabbing at 1:40 a.m., and the victim was taken a short time later to Samaritan Medical Center by Guilfoyle Ambulance.

An autopsy was being conducted Wednesday afternoon by Dr. Samuel A. Livingstone, Jefferson County medical examiner.

Ms. Goley is a native of Chester, Ill., according to the arrest report. She told Judge McClusky she has been in the Army two and a half years.

On her MySpace page, she referred to Mr. Rolland as "my Top Cat."

She wrote on Aug. 8: "I'm happy, livin my life with my Top Cat! Things couldn't be greater!" Her mood, she wrote: "Crazy in love."

On July 25, she expressed her intentions of marrying him. "I'm not marrying anyone but Top Cat Rolland."

The day he finished his jail term for their May 9 domestic fight, she wrote, "I'm back with my Top Cat! I love you, baby!"

The child protective services unit of the Jefferson County Department of Social Services was involved in finding someone to care for the child.