Crime & Safety

Essex Man Arrested in Girlfriend's Stabbing Death

Baltimore County police allege that John Falkenstein stabbed his girlfriend several times on Monday.

An Essex man has been arrested in the Monday stabbing death of his girlfriend, Baltimore County police said Monday.

Police responded to a house in the 700 block of Myrth Avenue at 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 5. A woman had called 911 and requested that officers check on her mother, who was visiting her boyfriend at that address, according to a statement from police spokesman Cpl. John Wachter.

After arriving and speaking with a man at the home, officers found a woman's body covered with a blanket in the kitchen, according to the statement. 

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The victim was identified as Janet Palasik, 48, of the 1100 block of Maple Road in Essex.

The police investigation showed that Palasik had gone to the Myrth Avenue home at about 7 p.m Nov. 4 to visit John Falkenstein, her boyfriend.

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According to the statement, Palasik and Falkenstein got into an argument, and Falkenstein allegedly stabbed her several times. Falkenstein, 56, of the 700 block of Myrth Avenue in Essex, was charged with first-degree murder in Palasik's death.

He is being held without bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center.


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