Police are in search of a man who was recently released from a Tennessee jail for questioning in a deadly stabbing that left two college students dead and one person injured over the weekend.
Metro Nashville Police Department are looking for Michael Mosley as a person of interest in the deadly stabbing of Clayton Beathard, 22, and Paul Trapeni III, 21, NewsChannel5. The two men were stabbed outside of The Dogwood Bar in Midtown Nashville early Saturday morning. A third person was also stabbed but was not seriously injured, according to authorities.
Authorities say Mosley is "is strongly believed to have definitive information about the murders,” since he was present in and outside the bar during the bar fight that led to the stabbing, the station reports. Cheatham County Sheriff Mike Breedlove told the news station that Mosley was recently booked and bonded out for aggravated assault charges. Mosley is only being sought for questioning at this time, and according to court records, Mosley is set to appear in court over the assault charges in January.
Police say based on surveillance video Mosley was present during the stabbing, which authorities say began due to "an unwanted advancement made by a man toward a woman" inside the bar.
The fight went from inside to outside of the bar, where the three victims were stabbed. A.J. Bethurum, 21, survived the stabbing, but taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center with injuries to his eye and arm, according to the Nashville news station.
All three of the victims were graduates of metro Nashville high school Battle Ground Academy. Trapeni was currently a student at Rhodes College in Memphis.
Beathard, who played football at Long Island University and Battle Ground Academy, is the brother of NFL quarterback C.J. Beathard of the San Francisco 49ers. His grandfather is NFL Hall of Famer Bobby Beathard, a scout with the Atlanta Falcons from 1968-71 and a senior adviser after Arthur Blank purchased the team in 2001. Beathard also won four Super Bowls as a general manager.
The 49ers released a statement Saturday with their condolences to Beathard and the rest of the family.
Bethurum, a UT Knoxville student, shared his condolences with a local television station CBS affiliate WVLT.
"All my thoughts and prayers (go to) the families of my friends who passed away yesterday,” he said Sunday.
BGA also released a statement about Trapeni and Beathard, who both graduated from the private school in 2016.
The BGA Football Family is praying for the Beathard and Trapeni families. https://t.co/QdenDDJkTD
— BGA Football (@FootballBga) December 21, 2019
Four businesses in the area, including the Dogwood, came together to offer a $20,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the deadly stabbing.
Anyone with information on this incident can call Nashville Crime Stoppers at (615) 742-7463.
