Joseph Cantrell is a name shared by several unrelated people who have surfaced in U.S. court records and news coverage. The most widely reported is Joseph Richard Cantrell, a Microsoft employee charged with attempted murder after a 2023 stabbing on the company’s Redmond campus. Others include a Florida man arrested in a fatal 2022 hit-and-run, a South Carolina magistrate suspended for misconduct in 2006, an Army corporal killed in Iraq in 2007, and parties to a West Virginia family property dispute decided in 2019.
Microsoft Campus Stabbing in Redmond, Washington
On February 22, 2023, Joseph Richard Cantrell, then 26 and a Microsoft employee, allegedly stabbed a fellow Microsoft worker in an unprovoked attack near the company’s Redmond headquarters. The victim, also 26, suffered more than a dozen stab wounds, a fractured skull, and a brain bleed, and was hospitalized in critical condition.1Law & Crime. Fellow Microsoft Employee Identified as Suspect in Stabbing of Co-Worker The two men worked in different parts of Microsoft and did not appear to know each other. Police described the attack as random.2KATU. Microsoft Redmond Stabbing Court Documents
Cantrell was arrested the next day after barricading himself in his apartment. Investigators reported finding bloody clothing, bloody shoes, and cleaned knives inside.1Law & Crime. Fellow Microsoft Employee Identified as Suspect in Stabbing of Co-Worker He was charged with one count of attempted second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault, with bail set at $2 million.3KING 5. Significant Sentence Possible for Microsoft Stabbing Suspect At arraignment on March 9, 2023, in King County Superior Court, he pleaded not guilty and was ordered held in jail. Trial was scheduled for April 2023.4GeekWire. Suspect in Alleged Stabbing of Fellow Microsoft Employee Pleads Not Guilty to Attempted Murder
After the arrest, reporters found a personal “life journal” attributed to Cantrell on a website he maintained. GeekWire reported that it described extensive drug use, frequent hallucinations, and a 2017 entry in which he wrote about contemplating killing friends. A public bio he had written before joining Microsoft referenced what he called “neural disturbances” involving hallucinations.4GeekWire. Suspect in Alleged Stabbing of Fellow Microsoft Employee Pleads Not Guilty to Attempted Murder No competency evaluation or mental health ruling was reported in the available coverage. Casey McNerthney of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said a “significant sentence” was possible on conviction even though Cantrell had no prior felony history in Washington.3KING 5. Significant Sentence Possible for Microsoft Stabbing Suspect
Fatal Hit-and-Run in Dover, Florida
A different Joseph Cantrell, then 39, was arrested on January 25, 2022, by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division and the U.S. Marshals Task Force. Investigators said a black Ford Mustang convertible struck and killed a pedestrian on Gallagher Road near Lewis Raulerson Road in Dover, Florida, on January 14, 2022. He was charged with leaving the scene of a crash with death.5Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. Press Release 22-009
Judge Catherine Catlin revoked his bond because he had been out on bond for an unrelated offense when the crash occurred. The arrest was his 14th. Fox 13 News reported that he had been released from prison in November 2020 after serving 15 years for grand theft auto and assaulting a law enforcement officer.6Fox 13 News. Judge Revokes Bond for Career Criminal Accused in Fatal Hit-and-Run
South Carolina Magistrate Suspended for Misconduct
Joe C. Cantrell served as a judicial officer in Greenwood County, South Carolina, starting with a part-time magistrate appointment in 1981. He became full-time magistrate and chief magistrate in 1989 and held that role until May 4, 2006, when the South Carolina Supreme Court placed him on interim suspension. On November 20, 2006, in In Re: Greenwood County Magistrate Joe C. Cantrell (No. 26223), the court imposed a one-year suspension from judicial duties after Cantrell admitted misconduct that included failure to comply with financial oversight procedures.7FindLaw. In Re: Greenwood County Magistrate Joe C. Cantrell, No. 26223
Army Cpl. Joseph H. Cantrell IV
Army Cpl. Joseph H. Cantrell IV, known as Joey, was a 23-year-old medic from Ashland, Kentucky, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas. He was killed on April 4, 2007, in Taji, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Army Staff Sgt. Jerry C. Burge died in the same incident.8Military Times. Army Cpl. Joseph H. Cantrell IV
West Virginia Property Easement Dispute
In Cantrell v. Cantrell (No. 18-0181), the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia addressed a family property dispute in Mingo County. Petitioners Michael, Karen, Craig, and Kim Cantrell sought an injunction to establish an easement across property owned by respondents David and Leslie Cantrell, who counterclaimed for damages tied to the disconnection of their water supply by the petitioners. The circuit court denied both claims, and on June 11, 2019, the state supreme court affirmed. The court found that the petitioners’ use of the property had been a “familial accommodation” rather than an adverse claim, and that any lack of access was “self-created” because the petitioners had failed to maintain existing routes to public roads bordering their property. The respondents’ request for attorney’s fees was also denied, as the court found the appeal had not been brought in bad faith.9FindLaw. Cantrell v. Cantrell, No. 18-0181