Zombie Enthusiast Donald Ray Cherry Charged With Killing A Man And Talking About Eating His Brains
Brraaaaains.
Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock In my humble opinion, there's rarely ever a valid reason to murder another person. Yeah that's right, I said rarely, and that's because I've watched a lot of Dateline and know the evils that the world is capable of at its ugly core. That said, when it comes to murder most foul, some people's motives for taking a life are just beyond ridiculous and pathetic.
Donald Ray Cherry, accused of the murder of Myron Wesley Knight, is one of those people accused of a murder for an utterly awful reason: a small sum of money, well under $200. To make matters worse, after allegedly taking the life of his victim, Cherry wanted to do something so henious that it would make even producers of The Walking Dead blush.
Who is Donald Ray Cherry?
Just when you think you've heard it all, a guy in Montana who is obsessed with zombies kills a dude and talks about maybe eating his brain.
Donald Ray Cherry, 32, is the Montana man in question, and he has been arrested and charged with killing Myron Wesley Knight, 41.
Cherry is accused of beheading (as in, you know, removing the head) of Knight just after Knight won $120 from a casino back in 2017. If this sounds like a stupid reason to kill someone, you have clearly not spent enough time on the internet.
Frankly, the fact that the guy had money on him at all sounds like incentive enough, the zombie and brain stuff is just the crap icing on the crap cake.
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Cherry isn't the only one who was arrested and charged in relation to the murder of Knight.
Jeffrey Glen Haverty, his co-defendant in the case, just pled guilty in June to deliberate homicide in his own trial. What's more, he revealed information that should make it easier to prosecute Cherry, including the fact that Cherry eagerly discussed eating the victim's brain after killing him.
His co-defendant Haverty isn't the only one who has been talking to the authorities about Cherry's brain lust and weird fascination with zombies, either. Apparently, Cherry's girlfriend (we can really pick 'em, can't we ladies?), who the police will only call "Z.W.", confirmed Haverty's take and said that Cherry “has a fascination/obsession with zombies."
Unfortunately for Cherry, things aren't getting any better for him, either.
Apparently, Cherry has recently been charged with witness intimidation, after telling his girlfriend (the aforementioned Z.W.) that the way she remembered the crime he's charged with committing was totally incorrect.
Court documents break down what happened between the lovers when Z.W. came to visit Cherry in prison back in January. He is accused of saying, “I know you don’t remember right” and then, of winking at his girlfriend. “The only thing that makes a witness is there’s two people saying the same thing,” Cherry is accused of saying, “So as long as we say the same thing, then that’s all that matters, OK?”
I've been pretty sarcastic up until now, but like a lot of people, that's probably because in order to process a particularly grim crime I tend to put a little bit of distance between myself and the story, often with humor. The truth of the matter is that there's nothing funny about what Cherry is accused of doing to Knight back in 2017. It was a horrific crime.
In fact, it's more horrific than I have even managed to share with you thus far.
You see, according to the medical examiner working the case, Dr. Robert Kurtzman, the chances are high that when Cherry and Haverty began removing Knight's head, he was probably very much still alive. When the police found his remains in November of 2017, his body was located 30 feet away from his head.
The night of the crime is still coming into focus for the prosecutors and the rest of us who weren't there that fateful night.
Here's what we do know: When Knight was attacked by the two men in question, he didn't even have his winnings on him. In fact, he told casino staff he was worried that his friends would rob him, so he trusted his winnings to them instead.
In fact, when Cherry and Haverty allegedly killed Knight, the decapitated man only had $6 total on his person. According to Cherry, who now faces life in prison if he is convicted for his crimes, the three men left the casino together and then smoked crystal meth.
Whether or not he will claim the drugs made him do it in the first place remains to be seen, but seems likely.
Rebecca Jane Stokes is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York with her cats, Batman and Margot. She's an experienced generalist with a passion for lifestyle, geek news, pop culture, and true crime.
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted on July 9, 2019 and was updated with the latest information.