Suspect in Santa Rosa stabbing death says he feared victim

A Santa Rosa homeless man said in recorded statements played for jurors Wednesday that he stabbed another homeless man to death on Christmas Eve because he feared being attacked himself.

Vladimir Sotelo-Urena, 26, told detectives Nicholas Bloom, 22, became aggressive outside the downtown library after Bloom asked him for a cigarette.

Fearing Bloom was reaching for a weapon, Sotelo-Urena said he pulled a large kitchen knife from his backpack and began stabbing Bloom in the neck.

Sotelo-Urena said he had been attacked a month earlier by three men including one who resembled Bloom, and wasn’t going to be a victim again.

“I just grabbed him and I went for it,” Sotelo-Urena told Santa Rosa Police Detective Timothy Hughes.

But Hughes and other detectives on the recordings were skeptical of Sotelo-?Urena’s explanation. They wondered why Bloom would ask for a cigarette when he had a whole pack in his pocket.

Also, they asked Sotelo-Urena about $20 bills and a wallet found scattered around Bloom’s body, suggesting a drug deal gone bad.

And they suggested a possible sexual motive, asking Sotelo-Urena if he killed Bloom after Bloom propositioned him.

“There must be more to the story,” one of the officers said on the tape.

But Sotelo-Urena insisted he acted in self-defense. He said he was sitting in back of the library, drinking coffee and reading the Quran, when Bloom walked up.

First Bloom asked if he spoke English and then if he had a cigarette, Sotelo-Urena said. When Sotelo-Urena said no, Bloom became belligerent and seemed to want to fight, he said.

Sotelo-Urena said he pulled his knife when Bloom got close to him and appeared to reach for something shiny.

“I guess he just wanted to rumble,” ?Sotelo-Urena said. He wanted to roll. And I was ready.”

Police arrived to find Sotelo-Urena sitting nearby. Bloom’s body was in the driveway, a $20 bill and container of lip balm in his outstretched hand.

Toxicology results showed Bloom had methamphetamine and other drugs in his system at the time of his death. Sotela-?Urena was sober, tests showed.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 568-5312 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.