Victoria man faces charges after stabbing father, setting house on fire

A suburban Twin Cities man is facing charges including attempted murder and arson after allegedly stabbing his father and setting fire to their home.

Rodman Stanley Kern, 66, of Victoria, told investigators that he got up just after 6 a.m. Saturday and made coffee. According to the criminal complaint, his son, Cody Raymond Kern, 24, then attacked him with a butcher knife.

Rodman Kern suffered seven stab wounds. Deep abdominal cuts resulted in injuries to his spleen and intestines. Doctors told investigators that the damage was so severe that he could have died without immediate treatment.

But somehow, the elder Kern wrested the knife from his son, who then allegedly hit him with a long-handled shovel. Both Rodman Kern and his wife managed to escape. Carver County sheriff's deputies found the couple in a vehicle about a mile away, and Rodman was rushed to Hennepin Healthcare's emergency room.

When deputies arrived at the Kern home, they saw Cody Kern standing near an open garage door wielding a shovel. Prosecutors say the officers asked Cody repeatedly to drop the shovel, but he refused and asked the deputies to put him in prison. Court documents say Cody moved quickly toward one of the deputies just before both fired their Tasers and subdued him.

When smoke alarms went off in the home, Kern told the officers that he had started a fire. Victoria firefighters extinguished it, but authorities say there was significant damage to the home.

In a jailhouse interview with a Carver County detective, Cody Kern allegedly said "I tried to kill my dad because he kept putting me in front of psychiatrist after psychiatrist and tried to help me with them when they were clearly trying to hurt me."

When the detective began taking photos of dried blood on Kern's hand, authorities say Kern lunged at him and tried to grab his shirt collar.