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Two Men Stabbed To Death In Wareham

WAREHAM (CBS) -- Two men were stabbed to death in Wareham early Saturday morning, and one man is under arrest.

Richard Walling, 20, of Wareham, is charged with two counts of manslaughter.

WBZ-TV's Alana Gomez reports.

Police say at 12:30 a.m. Saturday they got a call that someone had been stabbed at the White Pines Hotel in Wareham. Leonard Bolia, 35, of Wareham, was found outside the motel and authorities say he had been stabbed several times in the chest.

He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Relatives say he had three children.

Wareham Double Stabbing
Police investigate a double fatal stabbing in Wareham. (credit: Two men were stabbed to death at the White Pines Motel in Wareham early Saturday morning. (credit: David G. Curran)

Investigators found a second body in the woods a couple hundred yards from the hotel. That victim has been identified as Ryan Aponte, 24, of Wareham. Police say Aponte also suffered several stab wounds.

Aponte's family questioned why it took so long to discover his body and if he could've been saved.

"If he was alive from White Pines to Cahoon road then who left him there to die? That's a long way," said Aponte's aunt, Darlene Fernandez.

Aponte's family said he was a former soldier and recently moved from Florida to Wareham to live with his father, Steven Fernandez. They added Aponte's girlfriend is pregnant and due in June.

"I raised him as a single father," said Steven Fernandez, Aponte's father. "He always looked out for me, he was good to me, he was my baby."

Fernandez described his son as a respectful, caring person who never got into trouble and was working on becoming a real estate agent.

"He wouldn't hurt nobody," he said. "He would give the shirt off his back."

The D.A.'s office has not released a motive for the attack. Neighbors say the suspect is known to them as a drug dealer.

Brandon Medeiros lives next door to White Pines, and said he heard screaming and saw an argument through his window.

Medeiros said he also saw Bolia stumble out in front of the hotel with stab wounds.

"He said, 'I'm dying, I'm dying,' and then he collapsed," said Medeiros.

Walling is scheduled to be arraigned Monday at the Wareham District Court.

WBZ-TV's Alana Gomez contributed to this report.

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