Stabbings at Albuquerque’s St. Jude Thaddeus Parish

The man accused of attacking church choir members at the end of mass Sunday faced a judge Monday afternoon. Family members of one of the stabbing victims were there to make sure it wouldn’t be so easy for the suspect to get out of jail.

Lawrence Capener, 24, faced three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. Despite his lack of violent criminal history, his bond was raised significantly.

For the first time since the attack Sunday, witnesses who were there during the attack saw Lawrence Capener appear in metro court.

Witnesses said he’s the man who hurdled church pews near the end of service at Saint Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church and attacked the church choir leader, Adam Alvarez.

“People were running, people were screaming,” Brenda Baca said. “Men were flocking down to the choir loft jumping on top of him trying to protect us. It was unbelievable.”

Baca, plays piano for the church choir, which started its closing hymnal songs when Lawrence Carpener reportedly jumped over several pews and rushed across the altar at the group with a sharp object.

Carpener stabbed the church choir director Adam Alvarez, flutist Gerald Madrid and two other parishioners before he was tackled by several other churchgoers, Albuquerque Police spokesperson Robert Gibbs said. The people stabbed are at area hospitals with non life threatening injuries.

“When I looked at him I just saw, I just his arm was white. It was just white,” Baca said. “I didn’t even see blood. Like white flesh. It was awful.”

Valerie Schalow sat next to Carpener in church and her husband held his hand during a prayer.

“His hands were so clammy and yet because we do the peace,” she said. “And so his hands were so clammy that when my kids had to go to the bathroom my husband washed his hands and I couldn’t understand why he went but later on he told me his hands so wet and clammy. He said he knew something was wrong with this guy.”

She said Carpener screamed for his mom, a eucharist minister at St. Jude.

“The guy was yelling for his mom,” Schalow said. “He was just screaming mom. Mom!”

Police said Capener admitted to targeting Alvarez, and offered a bizarre explanation.

A criminal complaint states Capener told detectives he believed Alvarez was a free mason involved in a widespread conspiracy.

Police said Capener told medical staff the free masons tapped into the radio waves of the church microphones to send their message, and that the devil was sending a message when Alvarez sang or spoke.

Sunday, Capener allegedly said he “had enough” and attacked Alvarez, injuring four people.

Police said Capener also admitted to vandalizing a Masonic Lodge within hours before the attack, and still had spray paint on his hands when he was taken into custody.

Monday, family members of one of the victims spoke in court and asked the judge to raise his bond. “This man is very dangerous, he arrived at a place of worship with a knife and he wielded that knife in a way that could have caused death,” Denise Madrid, sister of stabbing victim Gerald Madrid, told the judge. “I believe that this gentleman needs to have at least a $500,000 cash only bond.”

Metro court judge Sharon Walton acknowledged the lack of violent criminal history for Capener, adding, “I am concerned also with the comments attributed to the defendant and whether or not he presents a continued risk to the community.”

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(KRQE) – Statement by Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan on April 28, 2013 Incident at St. Jude Thaddeus Parish, Albuquerque:

“I am deeply saddened by the incident that took place this morning during the 11:00 a.m. Mass at St. Jude Thaddeus in Paradise Hills, Albuquerque.

A man in his early twenties attacked several choir members with a knife before being apprehended by an off duty police officer and others. This is the first time in my 30 years serving as Archbishop in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and as Bishop of Lubbock, that anything like this has occurred. I pray for all who have been harmed, their families, the parishioners and that nothing like this will ever happen again.

St. Jude Thaddeus Parish is a vibrant community led by an excellent pastor, Father John Daniel, an Albuquerque native. The parish has a weekly Sunday attendance of 4,000 members.