2 men charged in hammer attack held on $250k bail

December 13, 2018 8:07 AM

Brian Neale,

Posted: December 13, 2018 8:07 AM

Updated: May 20, 2021 8:43 AM

by Brian Neale

John Tollefson, 50, First Degree Attempted Murder and First Degree Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder.
Eric Kaiser, 44, is charged with First Degree Attempted Murder and First Degree Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The two North Spokane County men charged with attempted first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder appeared in court Wednesday afternoon.

According to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, John Tollefson, 50, conspired with Eric Kaiser, 44, to kill his daughter’s ex-boyfriend with a hammer.

They are charged with First Degree Attempted Murder and First Degree Criminal Conspiracy to Commit Murder.

The two are being held in the Spokane County Jail on $250,000 bail.

Deputies received a call just after midnight on Monday morning from a caller who said a man was covered in blood on his front porch. When they got to North Edencrest Drive, they found the 22-year-old victim bleeding profusely from his head.

The victim said he was at home when a man, later identified as Kaiser, knocked on his door, claiming that due to icy road conditions, he had accidentally hit the victim’s car. When the victim went outside to assess his car’s damage, Kaiser began hitting him on the head with a hammer, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Eventually, the victim was able to grab the hammer from Kaiser, and began hitting him back, and then bit him. Kaiser ran off and the victim screamed for help.

When deputies were talking to the victim, they noticed a truck that had been in the area when they first arrived, drive by again. The victim told deputies the same truck had driven by three times. Deputies conducted a traffic stop on the truck, and the driver, Tollefson said he was driving home from a family member’s house, and was driving around being “nosey” because his daughter had a past with the victim. Deputies later found out Tollefson had not been to his family member’s home in a few days and that Tollefson had been with Kaiser earlier that evening.

Later that night, deputies went to Tollefson’s home for the second time. As they walked up to the house, both Tollefson and Kaiser walked out. Kaiser had a large head injury, as well as scrapes and what appeared to be a bite mark on his arm. Both Kaiser and Tollefson were arrested.

Major Crimes detectives believe Tollefson and Kaiser acted together to devise a plan to lure the victim from his house and kill him. Detectives said the pre-planned attack was directly related to the contentious ending of the relationship between Tollefson’s daughter and the victim.

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