Stabbing kills man outside Russell Neighborhood bar

Find out what we learned about this case, and who police say they’ve charged with murder …

Regulars say that customers who frequent Paddy’s Old Irish Café are usually pretty mellow – making the altercation that led to death outside that establishment this week highly irregular. Official records of “Police Calls for Service” indicate Paddy’s is, indeed, a quiet, neighborhood establishment.

Story and photo by David F. Ashton
It was a fairly quiet evening in the Russell Neighborhood very early on September 25^th until police were called to the big WinCo shopping center, north of NE Halsey Street.

At about 12:45 a.m., a man was found bleeding outside Paddy’s Old Irish Café at 1736 NE 122nd Avenue.

“Early Saturday morning, officers responded to the report of a stabbing outside Paddy’s,” was the announcement from Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Pete Simpson.

“Two witnesses performed CPR on the victim,” Simpson continued. “Medical personnel arrived, and determined that the victim was deceased.”

The investigation revealed that the victim and suspect were arguing with one another before the stabbing took place, Simpson said. “The suspect fled the area on foot.”

The victim in the Friday night homicide has since been identified as 45-year-old Todd James Young of Northeast Portland, we learned – when Simpson later added, “the Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy this morning (Sunday), and determined that Young died of a stab wound.”

Police accuse this man – 51-year-old Charles Edward Pelham – of stabbing a man to death after an argument.

Witnesses gave police the information they needed to track down the knifeman. About 10 hours following the homicide, at 11:10 a.m. on Sunday, September 26th, Portland Police Bureau detectives located their suspect and made took him in custody. “51-year-old Charles Edward Pelham was arrested in connection Young’s stabbing death,” Simpson said. “Pelham was booked into the Multnomah County Jail on one count of Murder.

Pelham was arraigned in Multnomah County Court on Monday, September 27; records confirm he’s being held at Multnomah County Inverness Jail, without bail, on one count of Murder, a Class A Felony.

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