Police said a kitchen knife in Travis William Lester’s car resembled one from the victims’ home.
CHAMPLIN, Minn. — A kitchen knife found after a traffic stop helped police connect Travis William Lester to a Champlin stabbing that left both of his parents critically wounded, according to court records and local reports.
The evidence became part of an attempted murder case that ended with Lester, 40, sentenced May 8 to 135 months and 15 days in prison. He had pleaded guilty April 10 to two counts of attempted second-degree murder. Police said he admitted stabbing both parents and said he had thought about doing it for “a day or two” but “didn’t want to.”
The physical evidence started at the home on the 7100 block of 120th Avenue North. Officers were sent there around 6 p.m. Sept. 5, 2025, after dispatchers received a 911 call that captured fumbling and someone yelling, “No.” A neighbor then reported finding a woman covered in blood. At the scene, officers found Lester’s father on a privacy deck, bleeding heavily and gripping a railing. He told police that his son had stabbed him and his wife. He also described the attack as a “drug-induced rage,” according to the complaint.
Inside and around the home, officers saw signs of a violent struggle. Reports described blood inside and outside the house. Police found a bloody knife under a kitchen table. The father had wounds to his neck, chest, abdomen and hand. Lester’s mother was found at a neighboring home with wounds to her neck, chest, abdomen and arms. Both were taken to a hospital in critical condition. Later reporting said both victims needed emergency surgery and were intubated for at least three days before surviving the attack.
The case turned outward when police learned Lester was not at the home. Officers looked for a silver Buick Lucerne connected to him. Reports said the vehicle was seen near Brooklyn Park shortly after the attack. Because police were still looking for a suspect in a stabbing with two critically injured victims, Champlin officers issued a brief shelter-in-place order for nearby residents. The order was later lifted after police determined the suspect had left the area in a vehicle. Several neighboring agencies helped with the response.
The vehicle was later spotted in Lino Lakes. Around 9:15 p.m., officers initiated a traffic stop. While looking into the car, police said they saw a large butcher-style kitchen knife. Investigators said it appeared similar to one from the victims’ home. Police also found a clear jar in the center console or cup holder area that appeared to contain methamphetamine. Lester was arrested without incident. The knife in the car, the knife under the kitchen table and the suspected drugs in the vehicle became key items in the public account of the investigation.
Police then obtained Lester’s statement. After being advised of his rights, he admitted to stabbing his parents, according to the complaint. He said he had been thinking about doing it for “a day or two” before the attack, while also saying he “didn’t want to.” That statement did not answer every question about motive. Public reports do not describe a specific argument, threat or event inside the home before the stabbing. The father’s statement about a drug-induced rage, and the suspected methamphetamine in the vehicle, were the clearest public references to a possible cause.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office charged Lester with two counts of attempted second-degree murder with intent, not premeditated. The charge fit the evidence prosecutors described: two living victims, multiple stab wounds and an alleged admission. The “not premeditated” part meant the state did not charge the case as one requiring proof of a fully formed plan made before the attack. Still, Lester’s own statement that he had thought about it for a day or two added weight to the allegation that the stabbing was intentional.
The injuries gave the case its severity. The father was found going into shock and had wounds across several parts of his body. The mother had a neck wound and other stab wounds when she was found at a neighbor’s house. Both were taken from the residential block to a hospital in critical condition. Reports said they survived despite the severity of the attack. The public record does not include a later full medical update, and the victims were not named in the public stories reviewed.
The legal record also included a challenge from Lester before he pleaded guilty. From jail, he sent a handwritten motion seeking dismissal of the charges. He argued that holding him on $1 million bail before conviction violated his rights. He wrote that the case showed “cruel and unusual punishment” and called excessive bail “an abomination of the law.” The court did not dismiss the case on that basis. Lester later chose to plead guilty to both attempted murder counts. His guilty plea narrowed what the public would hear in court. There was no trial where jurors viewed the knives, heard testimony from officers or listened to the victims describe what happened. Instead, the case moved to sentencing. On May 8, the judge imposed a term of 135 months and 15 days and credited Lester with 245 days already served in jail. Reports said he would serve the sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud.
The evidence trail remains the backbone of the case. A 911 call placed officers at the home. A neighbor’s report helped them find one wounded victim. The father identified Lester as the attacker. Police found a bloody knife under a kitchen table. Officers later found Lester’s vehicle, saw another kitchen knife inside and recovered suspected methamphetamine. Lester then admitted the stabbing. That sequence carried the case from emergency response to formal charges and then to a guilty plea.
The resolved case leaves Lester serving an 11-year prison sentence while his parents’ recovery beyond their survival remains mostly outside the public record. Any future developments would likely come through prison records, postconviction filings or later court entries tied to the sentence.
Author note: Last updated June 15, 2026.