Woman accused of hiding in ex’s backseat before attempting to kill him in Jefferson County

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — A Brookville woman has been accused of hiding in her ex-boyfriend’s backseat before attacking him with a knife while he was leaving for work, Pennsylvania State Police report.

According to court documents, Paige Nicole Lander, 23, was arrested Thursday morning, Sept. 14, and charged with the attempted murder of an ex-boyfriend.

The criminal complaint notes that the investigation is ongoing and only outlines sufficient probable cause to take Lander into custody.

According to the complaint, police were alerted that Lander was unreachable and may be suicidal. At roughly 6 a.m., while searching for Landers, troopers were called to a home where they found a man who was stabbed multiple times. He was taken to DuBois Regional Medical Center.

The victim later told police that he and Lander had dated for a few months and then broke up. He alleged that she would message him to the point he had to start blocking her. According to his account, he was leaving for work and backing out of the driveway when he noticed Lander’s vehicle blocking the way. Lander then popped up from the backseat and attacked him with a knife. While trying to bargain with her, he told police she said she wanted him dead.

The complaint shows that he said he was able to get out of the car and was worried Lander would “finish the job,” but she ran to her vehicle and drove away.

Troopers noted the man had cuts to his face, neck and hand.

Troopers said that they found a black-handled folding knife in the man’s car along with blood and glass cleaning wipes that were covered in blood.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, state police found Lander at her home and she was taken into custody. Suspected blood was also said to be found on the pants she was wearing.

Lander is now facing charges of attempted murder in the first degree, attempted aggravated assault to cause serious bodily injury, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person, and simple assault.

Lander was placed in Jefferson County Prison with bail set at 10% of $400,000.

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A preliminary hearing is not scheduled as of this writing.

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