JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. – A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office arrest and booking report is shedding more light on a deadly stabbing at the Jacksonville Beach Pier.
60-year-old Dennis Darwin Perry was arrested Thursday and is charged with premeditated first-degree murder.
Recommended Videos
Body found under pier
Officers responded shortly before 10 p.m. Wednesday to the 500 block of Beach Proper N — the area beneath the pier — following a report of a stabbing. A witness called police after seeing a fight between two men and later returning to find one of them unresponsive.
Officers located the body of a man beneath the pier with multiple stab wounds and cuts across his body. The victim was later identified as Stephen James Beegle, 38, using a Georgia driver’s license.
Witness account
A female witness was found with Perry near trash cans on the boardwalk at 2nd Avenue N and agreed to speak with detectives.
She told officers that she had been under the pier throughout the day with several individuals, including Beegle — whom she referred to as “big boy” — along with three other people. She said the group had been drinking since around 2 p.m. after two men reportedly stole alcohol from a nearby Walgreens.
According to the witness, Beegle was heavily intoxicated and at some point, began touching Perry’s male friend in a sexual manner. She said the friend warned Beegle to stop or he “would do what he had to do.” When Beegle continued, Perry intervened, told Beegle to stop and pulled out a large knife before the argument temporarily settled.
The witness told detectives Beegle again began touching Perry’s friend prompting a physical fight between the two. She said Perry then approached from behind and began slashing Beegle’s legs with the knife. After the attack the friend allegedly told Perry, “We’re just going to leave him right there,” and told Perry to get away from the witness.
Surveillance video captures movements
Detectives reviewed footage from city cameras and the Jacksonville Beach Fishing Pier’s public live stream on YouTube. The video footage showed Perry’s movements in the minutes surrounding the stabbing.
According to the arrest report, at 9:23 p.m. Perry exited the boardwalk at 2nd Avenue N and entered the dunes, where a backpack had been left. Three minutes later, at 9:26 p.m., he was seen walking under the pier with what appeared to be a knife pulled from his shorts. At 9:27 p.m., he exited from under the pier. By 9:32 p.m., surveillance showed him going behind trash cans and into the dunes — the same area where the knife was later recovered.
Knife, backpack recovered in dunes
Detectives recovered a black backpack in the dunes near a cluster of small palm trees. Inside the bag were pill bottles bearing the name Dennis Perry, clothing, toiletry items, glasses and a large black knife sheath.
A large knife was found approximately 2 feet away, partially buried under shrubbery in the sand. The weapon was logged into evidence and listed in the report as related to the murder charge.
Perry invokes right to attorney
Officers say they observed blood on Perry’s hands and shoes when he was first detained. Perry was read his Miranda rights, signed a waiver and initially agreed to speak with detectives.
During the interview, Perry told detectives he had been drinking under the pier with a group of people whose names he did not know. He said two men nearly got into a fight but someone broke it up. He denied assaulting anyone or pulling a weapon.
When detectives presented him with the surveillance footage and physical evidence, Perry said he wanted to speak with a lawyer. The interview ended at that point.
Perry was determined to be indigent and was appointed a public defender.