Cops: Arrest made in fatal stabbing of LIU quarterback
Police in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday arrested Michael D. Mosley, 23, and said he would be charged in the fatal stabbings of LIU quarterback Clayton Beathard and another man outside a bar in the city. Credit: Metro Nashville Police Department
Nashville police Wednesday arrested a man wanted in connection with the fatal stabbings of Long Island University quarterback Clayton Beathard and another victim following a dispute outside a bar.
Late Wednesday night, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department tweeted that a judicial commissioner had ordered Michael D. Mosley, 23, held without bond on two charges of criminal homicide. Mosley also faces a charge of attempted homicide with a $5 million bond set, the tweet said.
On Monday, police named Mosley as the suspect in stabbings early Saturday that claimed the lives of Beathard, 22, a junior at LIU, and Paul Trapeni III, 21. Both died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center following the stabbings, authorities said. A third victim, whom police identified as Alvin Jefferson “A.J.” Bethurum, 21, suffered arm and eye injuries, police said.
Mosley surrendered Wednesday after SWAT officers, agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations and a fugitive task force with the U.S. Marshals surrounded a vacant home in Cheatham County, Nashville police tweeted.
The suspect is last known to have lived in Pegram, Tennessee, police said. He was identified as being present both inside the Dogwood Bar & Grill, and outside at the time of the dispute, which police said was over his unwanted advances toward a woman.
Police said the woman was a friend of the victims.
"That led to a verbal dispute and then a physical fight once the parties made it outside,” police said in a statement. “The investigation shows that Mosley was armed with a sharp object during the fight, which was used to stab the two victims.”
Clayton Beathard was fatally stabbed outside a bar in Nashville on Saturday morning, authorities said. Credit: James Escher
Mosley has a long criminal rap sheet, police said. At the time of the stabbings, he had been free on $5,000 bond on charges he attacked a woman at a Walmart store in December 2018, police said.
His previous convictions include two counts of robbery in February 2018; two counts of felony aggravated assault for stabbing a man in December 2017 and cutting a woman in June 2015. He also had a conviction stemming from theft and auto burglary charges in July 2015, police said.
Relatives of Beathard could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday. Officials with Long Island University did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Beathard comes from a family steeped in football lore. His grandfather, Bobby Beathard, won four Super Bowls as an NFL general manager and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His older brother, C.J. Beathard, is a quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He is also the son of country music songwriter Casey Beathard and Susan Beathard. His brother, Tucker Beathard, is a country music singer.
The 6-1, 190 pound quarterback from Thompson Station, Tennessee, transferred to LIU in January from Iowa Western Community College.
Beathard appeared in seven games in the fall before an injury sidelined him for the rest of the season, according to the website for the LIU football team.
Beathard’s teammates have described him on social media and in interviews as a selfless friend who quickly developed a fondness for New York life and culture. Teammate Tommy Donovan of North Massapequa, also a quarterback for LIU, described Beathard as “passionate about his family, the Lord and football.”
