Preliminary hearing set Monday in fatal stabbing
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — There’s no plea offer on the table and a preliminary hearing is scheduled to go forward in the case of a homeless man accused of fatally stabbing another man, allegedly over a bag that went missing from his encampment.
Joseph Neve, 57, is set for a preliminary hearing Monday at which a judge will decide if there’s sufficient evidence to order him to stand trial on charges of first-degree murder and making criminal threats.
Attorneys said in court Thursday no plea offer has been made. The preliminary hearing is expected to last no more than 90 minutes.
The stabbing victim’s girlfriend told police Neve accused them of stealing his bag the morning of Aug. 13 then attacked her boyfriend, Joshua Alan Hawkins. according to court documents. She said Neve stabbed Hawkins three times with a folding knife and threatened to kill her too.
Hawkins, 41, died at the scene.
Surveillance footage shows the woman and her boyfriend walk toward the area where the stabbing occurred at 25th and H streets, with Neve following, according to the documents. The footage then shows Neve fleeing the area, documents said.
Neve, arrested the same day, told police he confronted the couple over the missing bag and the other man ended up stabbed in the chest. Neve said he didn’t remember stabbing him, according to the documents.
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