A Florida man, aged 53, was apprehended this week on charges of allegedly murdering his girlfriend by stabbing her multiple times, including once in the back. The suspect, Rifet Redzic, was taken into custody on Wednesday and is facing a first-degree murder charge for the death of 50-year-old Nafa Secic, as reported by local authorities.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office issued a news release stating that deputies from the Patrol Operations Bureau responded to a call around 9:50 p.m. on March 9. The call was about a purportedly “suicidal subject” at a residence located in the 2700 block of 62nd Avenue North in St. Petersburg, Florida, approximately 20 miles southwest of Tampa.
The caller, who identified himself as the boyfriend of the victim, informed the emergency dispatcher that his girlfriend, Secic, had allegedly stabbed herself and was no longer alive. Upon arrival, first responders found Secic in her bedroom with multiple stab wounds to her chest and abdomen. She was declared dead at the scene, and a knife discovered at the location was collected as evidence.
Redzic was present when deputies arrived and gave his account of the incident to investigators. He claimed that he was asleep and woke up to find Secic going to the kitchen to get a knife. She then returned to their bedroom and began stabbing herself, according to Redzic. He told detectives that he tried to stop her but was unsuccessful.
However, as the investigation progressed, authorities found discrepancies between Redzic’s initial account and the physical evidence, as well as his subsequent statements. Detectives discovered an additional stab wound on Secic’s back and noted that Redzic provided several inconsistent accounts of the incident following Secic’s death.
Initially, Redzic insisted that Secic had inflicted the wounds on herself. However, he later admitted to stabbing Secic in the back, while maintaining that the other wounds were self-inflicted. According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, Redzic claimed in a post-Miranda interview that Secic had first threatened him with a knife and then stabbed herself in the abdomen. He alleged that he stabbed her in the back only after she had stabbed herself.
Investigators ultimately concluded that Secic had sustained five stab wounds – three in the chest, one in the abdomen, and one in the back – all of which were inflicted by Redzic. Currently, Redzic is being held at the Pinellas County Jail without bond and is set to appear in court at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 14.