Stabbing at North Collins "House of Horrors"

NORTH COLLINS, N.Y. (WIVB) - For a small town like North Collins that doesn't see much violence, one house in particular seems to attract it.

A house on Sherman Avenue at Park Street has been the site of some brutal crimes in the past. Monday night, it added another victim to its growing list of violence when a man was stabbed in the neck.

The house may be better know as the "House of Horrors," named that after Laura Cummings was raped and tortured for years before her murder at the hands of her mother and step-brother.

Just before 10 p.m. on Monday, North Collins neighbors heard the latest attack.

Jeffrey Tyler said, "I hear rustling upstairs and the next thing you know I see a dude come running down the stairs screaming his head off. He's all bloody."

A 39-year-old man was stabbed in the chest, but could only speak Spanish, so police had to find an interpreter.

Erie County Sheriff's Capt. Ronald Kenyon said, "Once they made contact with a suspect, he came right outside and was questioned and subsequently charged with felony assault."

Nineteen-year-old Samuel Sanjuan is accused of stabbing his roommate, who has since been released from ECMC.

Levi Huff said, "Sam seemed pretty cool. I didn't really think he'd stab somebody like that."

The stabbing happened in the same house where Laura Cummings subjected to unspeakable horror at the hands of her own family until she was murdered in 2010. It's also the same house where Jose Fontanes was beaten to death by two men looking for drug money in 2003. And four years ago, another man was found dead of an overdose inside.

There are about five different apartments in the large house. But some North Collins residents can't help but wonder about all these events.

Brian Longboat said, "I really do think it's this house. Like anybody who moves in, it makes them crazy. It really is bad energy in this house."

Falicity Cosco added, "My grandma talks about bad energy and energy causes people to do bad things, so maybe it's just energy in this house."

"As far as the reason why, I wouldn't speculate. I don't know why, but it certainly is an unusual set of circumstances in a small town such as North Collins. And it's a good little town, a good little village," said Capt. Kenyon.