News

Court docs: Man accused of stabbing victim 10 times implies self-defense

BROOKLINE, Mass. — The man found stabbed to death in a Brookline Park may have drunkenly tried to rob someone he was attempting to buy drugs from, according to a police report filed by Brookline police.

A witness told police the victim, Nicholas "Cole" Kern, 20, was drunk and "acting belligerently" after stealing a bottle of vodka when he said he wanted to buy some pills.

That witness said he went with Kern to Amory Park, where he saw him get into a fight with a man he met up with. After the fight, he said Kern staggered toward him and collapsed.

Kern was rushed to Beth Israel Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries, which police say included 10 stab wounds to the head, neck and stomach.

Police say the man he fought with was Singha Oeun, 21, who is now charged with murder.

According to the police report, Oeun's roommate and relative told police he made statements implicating him in the stabbing.

Police say they found messages in Oeun's phone saying, "It's all good my friend hid the knife in Allston...he was intoxicated and try to rob me."

According to police, his relative said he told her over the phone that the man he was supposed to be selling something to was holding a broken bottle.

Police said a broken vodka bottle was found in the park where Kern was found stabbed.

When officers searched Oeun's apartment, they said they found bloody clothes and bloody towels.

Oeun was arrested in Malden Wednesday morning. He was held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing at an arraignment Thursday.

MORE: Brookline Police arrest 21-year-old in connection to fatal park stabbing