A 25-year-old man has been charged with murder after police say he stabbed a woman to death on an Atlanta commuter train in an apparently random attack. John Elijah Matthews was arrested around noon on Saturday, moments after he stepped off the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority train at the Oakland City Station, said MARTA Police Chief Scott Kreher. First responders tried to resuscitate Margaret Swan, 66, but she died at the scene, he said. Matthews waived a bond hearing set for Monday morning, and a defense attorney named in his court documents did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. Matthews has not yet had the opportunity to enter a plea.Kreher said video from the train depicted an unprovoked and chilling attack on an apparent stranger, and that Swan was stabbed up to 20 times. “There’s no evidence at this time to suggest they knew each other — this was merely a random act of violence,” Kreher said.
“He walked over, stood next to her, and within 30 seconds he had killed her,” using a small pocket knife, Kreher said. “He looked at her, didn’t say anything to her, pulled out a knife.”
Other people were on the train at the time, Kreher said, but the suspect did not approach any of them. “He finished attacking her, and he just stood there and waited for the train to stop in Oakland City. He got off the train car, went over on the platform, and just sat down. He didn’t even try to run or hide,” Kreher said.
