Cannibalism claim adds charge to stabbing suspect

The suspect in the stabbing of a Winchester woman is facing new charges after he claimed to be a cannibal and threatened to eat a Winchester Police officer.

Police spent most of Wednesday morning searching for 25-year-old Brandon Hocker after he allegedly stabbed his girlfriend multiple times Tuesday night. On Wednesday afternoon, officers spotted him on Belmont Avenue and made the arrest.

During the arrest, Hocker allegedly told Officer Christine Matthews “that he was a cannibal and that he was going to put her on a plate and eat her,” according to the arrest citation. That statement added a terroristic threatening charge to the existing second-degree assault charge.

Hocker was wanted for allegedly stabbing his girlfriend Shannon Marie Butner following an argument Tuesday night. Officers were called to her apartment on College Street at 9:27 p.m. after neighbors reported hearing a fight. When they arrived, Hocker had fled the scene and Butner had multiple stab wounds to her chin, neck, back and arm.

Butner told Winchester Police Sgt. Tom Beall that she told Hocker to leave the apartment. Hocker got mad and stabbed her, she said.

Hocker did not have the weapon on him when he was arrested and police have not recovered it since, Beall said.

Butner’s wounds were not life-threatening, but she was transported to the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center for treatment Tuesday night.

Hocker will be arraigned Monday in Clark District Court. If convicted of second-degree assault, he could receive five to 10 years in prison.  WinchesterSun