Police: Woman stabbed grandfather 40 times in Port Richmond, charged with murder

PORT RICHMOND (AP/WTXF) - PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- A 21-year-old woman has been arrested in the death of her 80-year-old grandfather, who police say she stabbed over 40 times in the home they shared last week, alleging he was abusive to her.

21-year-old Patricia Diocson is charged with murder and possession of an instrument of crime in the death of Robert Girard. No attorney is listed in online court documents.

Police say she initially told investigators she came home Wednesday at 9 p.m. and found her grandfather naked in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor on the 2500 block of East Lehigh Avenue in Port Richmond.

Police say there was a trail of blood leading from Girard's second-floor bedroom to the kitchen, and there were no signs of forced entry.

Police say she later confessed to stabbing him 41 times.

"He was a sweet guy. He did no harm to nobody. He would help somebody if they needed it. That's why I can't see how they did this to him," said Pauline Cheeseman. She's grieving the loss of her friend Robert Girard. She'd known him for nearly 40 years.

"We used to all go camping. He would go on the boat with my brother-in-law. He would be at my house every day when we lived down this way," she said.

"There was a lot of blood. Nothing was taken and no forced entry at this point," said Captain Jack Ryan with Philadelphia Police.

Girard was an Army veteran and had lived here for decades.

"I'm sick. I'm absolutely sick. I feel like there's something more I could have done or that we could have did as a community. Bob was a great guy," said his neighbor Brian White.

Cheeseman says Girard's wife died in December of last year.

"They were both sweet people. I can't even think of him being murdered or why he would even be murdered," she said.