A Keys teen stabbed his family, cops say, then later jumped in front of oncoming traffic
A teenage boy stabbed his younger brother to death and gravely wounded his father during a Thursday morning rampage in their Florida Keys townhouse, the Monroe County sheriff said.
After an intensive manhunt that began early in the morning and spanned multiple counties, the boy jumped out into the middle of traffic on U.S. 1 early Thursday night in an apparent suicide attempt. He was hit by a car and suffered “severe injuries,” Adam Linhardt, sheriff’s office spokesman, said.
The suspect, Daniel Weisberger, 17, was flown to a Miami-Dade County hospital, Linhardt said. The hospital was not immediately known.
He was hit by the car at 7 p.m. at mile marker 87, near where police looked for him all day.
The stabbings happened at the Executive Bay Club townhomes, mile marker 87.2 in Islamorada. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office got the call around 6 a.m.
Linhardt said Weisberger stabbed his 14-year-old brother, Pascal Weisberger, to death and stabbed his father multiple times. Police identified the father as 43-year-old Ariel Poholek. Poholek was flown to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami and is in critical condition.
Badly wounded, Poholek was able to get out of the house and get to a neighbor, who called 911 for help, Linhardt said. County medics flew him to the Miami hospital.
THE SEARCH
Keys deputies, with help from Miami-Dade police, immediately started searching for Weisberger. Investigators said he could still be in the Keys, or possibly made his way to Miami or the Treasure Coast.
Shortly after noon, police from several agencies searched the bayside townhouse property, using a Miami-Dade County helicopter and special response officers, along with dogs sniffing through bushes and dumpsters.
Police searched for him in the Keys, as well as Miami-Dade and St. Lucie counties. His biological mother, who Ramsay said is cooperating with police, lives in the Port St. Lucie area.
Investigators in the Keys doubted Weisberger hid with friends. People who knew the family said he didn’t have close relationships and was a loner.
Executive Bay has its own marina, but there was no indication Weisberger escaped on a boat, police say. He also does not own a car, and Poholek’s car was still at the home, Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said.
THE CRIME SCENE
Ramsay said Poholek told the neighbor who aided him that Daniel Weisberger “stabbed, slashed and butchered the young son” around 4 a.m.
Poholek came in the room to see what was happening, and Weisberger attacked him, stabbing him multiple times in the neck, Ramsay said.
Poholek was held hostage by Weisberger for about two hours before he managed to escape to the neighbor’s home. Sheriff’s deputies arrived about two minutes after the neighbor called 911, but Weisberger was already gone.
When first responders arrived to treat Poholek, he had massive injuries to his neck and massive blood loss, Ramsay said. The sheriff described Poholek’s injuries as “very grave,” and said, “It’s 50/50; it can go either way.”
CRIMINAL HISTORY
Weisberger has a long juvenile justice history including at least one arrest for violence toward his brother, Pascal, Ramsay said. He was also previously arrested on a gun charge.
Before Weisberger was found, police considered him to be dangerous and desperate to get away.
“He’s on the run. He knows he’s being looked for. He knows that if he gets caught that could mean the rest of his life in prison. So, here’s a person with nothing to lose, which makes him more vulnerable to everybody in the general public and law enforcement,” Ramsay said.
Law enforcement sources and people who knew the family said Daniel Weisberger had a history with the juvenile justice system and behavioral problems.
Michelle Birnie’s children were in the same Boy Scout troop as the Weisbergers three or four years ago. She said Daniel Weisberger was troubled and was eventually kicked out of the troop.
“He would do things like throw firecrackers in the fire,” she said. “If you told him not to do something, he would do it.”
His single father started another troop with his sons and some other boys, Birnie said.
Pascal, on the other hand, was the complete opposite of his brother, she said.
“He was polite and well-behaved,” Birnie said. “He always had his head in the books.”
Poholek is a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service, said NOAA spokeswoman Kim Amendola. Poholek’s tenure at NOAA Fisheries was not immediately known.
“We are deeply saddened by this unexpected tragedy. Our thoughts are with Ariel and his family, and we ask for privacy for him during this very difficult time,” Amendola said in a statement Thursday night.
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 8:49 AM.
