Topekan died after stepping between his wife and son, who stabbed him 57 times: Affidavit

As his wife was being stabbed April 16 by their son, Ross Fapp jumped between them and suffered "57 sharp/stab injuries," a court document says.

Ross Fapp, 79, died about an hour later, said a charging affidavit made public this week.

His wife, Katherine Fapp, survives while their son, 38-year-old Robert Fapp, faces charges for crimes that include first-degree murder.

What happened?

Katherine Fapp called 911 at 7:29 p.m. April 16 from a house in the 400 block of S.W. Woodlawn Avenue to report her son was stabbing her husband, the affidavit said.

It said officers arrived at 7:33 p.m. to find Katherine Fapp bleeding heavily on her front porch.

Police then went upstairs and found Robert Fapp in a bedroom sitting straddled atop Russ Fapp as they struggled over a knife, the affidavit said.

It said Ross Fapp, who was lying on his back and side, had both his hands wrapped tightly around the blade while Robert Fapp had his hands wrapped around the handle and was trying to thrust the knife into his father's chest.

Police pulled Robert Fapp off his father and arrested him, the affidavit said.

The Fapps were taken to a Topeka hospital, where Ross Fapp was declared dead at 8:35 p.m. that evening, it said.

Ross Fapp had suffered stab wounds to his lungs, liver and intestines, the affidavit said.

Katherine Fapp had a punctured lung and wounds to her arms and chest, it said.

Robert Fapp began fighting with staff members at the hospital, then was physically restrained and medically cleared to be taken to the Shawnee County Jail, the affidavit said.

Robert Fapp remained an inmate Tuesday in that jail, where he was being held on a $1 million bond, jail records said.

'Ross jumped in between'

The charging affidavit said Katherine Fapp told Scherer she had been in her upstairs office painting when her husband ran into the room and said, "He's trying to stab me!"

Katherine Fapp said she then walked to the nearby doorway and opened the door before Robert Fapp lunged through the door and began stabbing her.

"Ross jumped in between Katherine and Robert to stop Robert from hurting Katherine," the affidavit said. "Robert began stabbing Ross and Katherine began running downstairs to call 911."

Robert Fapp faces charges of two counts of mistreating a dependent adult or elder person and one count each of premeditated first-degree murder, first-degree murder in the commission of an inherently dangerous felony, aggravated battery and premeditated attempted first-degree murder.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topekan died after stepping between his wife and son, who stabbed him 57 times: Affidavit