Silver Creek Man Accused in Stabbing Linked to Possible Threesome Gone Awry

A Silver Creek man was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of stabbing another man in the chest before they and a third person planned to take part in a three-way sexual encounter, according to court documents.

Claude E. Royals, 56, was charged Wednesday with first-degree assault. 

Superior Court Judge James Lawler ordered him held on $75,000 bail, in accordance with a request from the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office.

The victim has been identified as a 43-year-old man from Lacey. He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center after the incident and was in stable condition as of Wednesday morning, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office. 

Deputies responded at 9:04 p.m. Tuesday to the 100 block of Huntting Road in Silver Creek to a report of a stabbing. Meanwhile, deputies also responded to Morton General Hospital after learning a witness was transporting the victim there for treatment. 

While waiting to speak with the victim, a deputy spoke with the woman who brought him to the hospital — a witness to the stabbing identified as Royals’ significant other, according to court documents. 

The witness told deputies she and Royals were at home when the alleged victim came over. 

She “stated the three of them were going to have a sexual encounter and everything seemed to be OK,” according to court documents. 

The victim reportedly took a shower while Royals cooked food. The witness told police the victim came out of the shower with a towel on and sat down at the kitchen table when Royals allegedly took a folding knife, opened it and stabbed the victim in the chest, according to court documents. 

The stabbing occurred because Royals “became offended by actions of the victim,” said Chief Deputy Dusty Breen of the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies contacted Royals, who reportedly denied stabbing the victim with a knife. 

Instead, Royals reported he stabbed the victim with a fork, according to court documents.