ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — William McKinley woke up to his dogs barking around 5 a.m. Saturday and went outside his Four Hills home to see what was going on.
He never made it back inside.
Police found the 55-year-old home remodeler stabbed multiple times in front of his driveway in the 1500 block of Soplo Road SE, his father-in-law sitting on his chest to try to slow the bleeding. Paramedics took McKinley to a hospital, where he died.
Albuquerque officer Simon Drobik said police think that McKinley confronted two thieves who had broken into his car, and that at least one of them stabbed him. No one had been arrested by Saturday night.
“A good man was viciously attacked by what I can only describe as a predator,” Drobik said.
McKinley spent much of his career working at Sandia National Laboratories and a few years ago started a home remodeling company called McJones Homes, his daughter Valerie McKinley said Saturday.
She said he was religious and ran a Bible study group out of his home. He was married, and had three grown children and two grandchildren.
McKinley graduated from Sandia High School and was well-known in the community – he couldn’t go to the grocery store without bumping into somebody he knew, his daughter said.
“He thought every day was worth celebrating,” she said. “Every day was a holiday, each day was something to give. He loved every part of his life. And he always knew if he died he would go to heaven.”
Before he died, McKinley told police two men had been trying to break into his truck and fled in a dark-colored Jeep.
The assailants were gone when police arrived and they haven’t been identified.
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