Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 6, 1994                   TAG: 9402060113
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SHEFFIELD LAKE, OHIO                                LENGTH: Medium

SKATER'S FATHER STABBED TO DEATH; BROTHER ARRESTED

Ernesto Punsalan, father of skater Elizabeth Punsalan, was stabbed twice in the chest while he slept Friday evening, police Chief Thomas Schmidt said Saturday.

His 20-year-old son, Ricardo, was jailed on a charge of aggravated murder and was scheduled to be arraigned Monday, Schmidt said.

Late Saturday, Elizabeth Punsalan, 23, said she and her husband, Jerod Swallow, 27, will compete in the Olympic ice dancing competition at the urging of her family.

"My father was proud of my skating achievements and would have wanted me to go on," the skater said. "I will try to skate my very best there in his memory."

The stabbing preceded the decision Saturday by the U.S. Figure Skating Association that Tonya Harding must face disciplinary proceedings for her alleged role in the attack on rival figure skater Nancy Kerrigan.

"I can't comment on how this will affect the team until I'm in Norway and can feel the mood," said Kristin Matta, a spokeswoman for the USFSA. "The team is very close and I'm sure the other skaters are very concerned."

Ernesto Punsalan, a surgeon, apparently was asleep when he was stabbed, Schmidt said. Police were called at 8:48 p.m. Friday to the Punsalan home, about 20 miles west of Cleveland.

Ricardo Punsalan was arrested Friday after telling the officers that he had stabbed his father, Schmidt said. A kitchen knife believed to be the weapon was recovered.

Schmidt would not comment on the motive, but said there was no fight. He would not comment on whether there had been a history of problems or violence in the family.

Theresa Punsalan, 59, the doctor's wife, and their son, Robert, whose age was not unavailable, were in the house at the time of the stabbing. They were not injured, Schmidt said.

Elizabeth Punsalan and her husband were scheduled to skate at an exhibition in Boston on Friday night. They did not perform.

The U.S. Olympic Committee said the couple was due to arrive in Oslo, Norway, with the other skaters today.

On Jan. 7, they won the ice dancing competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Detroit. They also won in 1991. The couple, who live in Pontiac, Mich., married in September.

Figure skating has four disciplines: men's singles, ladies singles, pairs and ice dancing.

Keywords:
FATALITY