GILL — A former Montague resident who is a suspect in a Plymouth murder was charged with stabbing a man in the chest about five years ago at a Montague home.
Now, police believe 24-year-old Tyler Hagmaier stabbed a woman to death in her Plymouth apartment before fleeing to western Massachusetts and disappearing.
While the search for Hagmaier has slowed since his car was found on Friday abandoned near the French King Bridge, police are encouraging residents to lock their windows and doors.
Hagmaier is suspected of killing 76-year-old Quincy College professor Vibeke Rasmussen, according to the statement issued by the Plymouth District Attorney’s Office.
State police were out canvassing the area by helicopter and searching the woods around on the bridge on Tuesday in an attempt to locate Hagmaier, said Gill Police Chief David Hastings. It’s possible the man jumped from the bridge, but there is no evidence of that.
In November of 2011, police arrested Hagmaier after he allegedly stabbed another man in the chest with a 10-inch serrated kitchen knife, according to Recorder archives. Police had received a phone call from a woman who said she and her husband were awakened when the motion lights outside their home came on. They checked to see what was happening and saw a man, later identified as Hagmaier, seemingly going up and down driveways in the neighborhood.
According to the police log, the reporting party’s husband confronted the man and, while waiting for the police, was stabbed in the chest.
When police arrived, Hagmaier started to run, but then stopped and dropped to the ground, according to reports at the time.
As police were handcuffing him, Hagmaier told police, “My life is over, I want to die.”
Appearing before Judge William Mazanec on March 13, 2012, Hagmaier admitted to sufficient facts for a charge of assault and battery with a knife and the charge was continued without finding for a year. The plea, in effect, means the defendant admits that, had the case gone to trial, there would have been sufficient facts to warrant a guilty finding.
Hagmaier was also fined and ordered to pay restitution to the victim. A trespassing charge was dismissed at the request of the prosecutor. An attempted murder charge was also dropped.
Authorities now continue to wonder if he jumped from the 140-foot French King Bridge on Friday or left his car near the bridge as a decoy.
The French King Bridge has been the scene of a number of suicide jumps since its construction in 1932. There have been more than 30 jumps over the years. At least four people have survived.
To monitor the bridge for possible suicide attempts, Hastings said that town officials have been pushing the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to install cameras for the last few years.
“We’ve wanted cameras in that area for quite some time. This is just another example of why they’re needed,” Hastings said. “The resources that we spent in the river are quite extensive, when a simple solution may very well just be cameras.”
If he did jump and didn’t survive, it could take several days or weeks for the body to surface and be found, police said.
Hastings said there are still bodies of suicide jumpers that have not been located.
Hastings said he’s learned that Hagmaier grew up in Montague and still has family members there. As calls came in, police checked the houses of individuals who might have known the man.
Hagmaier is suspected of stabbing Rasmussen more than 30 times in her Plymouth apartment last Thursday. He lives in the apartment across from Rasmussen’s, and authorities say he has a history of mental illness.
There is an open homicide investigation being conducted by state police.
Anyone with additional information can contact detectives at the Plymouth Police Department at 508-830-4218 or the State Police at 508-923-4205.
Reporters Domenic Poli
and Aviva Luttrell
contributed to this article.
You can reach Lisa Spear at:
lspear@recorder.com or
413-772-0261, ext. 280