Woman Fends off Attacker with Knife

The Story

A woman found herself in one of the scariest positions any of us could imagine. She was taking a nap in her home and woke up to a man on top of her threatening to harm her. What can you do in this situation? You fight back! With a hidden knife, she defended herself and prevented a terrifying situation from getting worse.

Woman Fights off Attempted Rape with Knife

HILOMATH, Ore. — After reportedly attacking a woman and threatening to rape and murder her, a man is in jail after the woman fought him off with a hidden knife, authorities say.

Court documents say the incident happened on October 27. Prosecutors say the suspect, Linus Morgan, 37, had just been released from the Benton County Jail about two hours before breaking into a woman’s home near Main Street while she was taking a nap. Police say the woman woke up to Morgan naked on top of her. At that point, he allegedly told her to be quiet, and that he was going to rape her.

A fight allegedly ensued, where the woman said Morgan had her in a chokehold for more than a minute and a half and was hitting her in the back of the head before she was able to grab a knife she had hidden in the mattress. She allegedly stabbed him twice, and Morgan tried to get the knife from her. The woman said he eventually gave up, said “you win,” and put on his clothes and left while she called 911. Police said they found Morgan a short time later, near a convenience store on south Eighth Street.

Court documents show Morgan is facing charges of first-degree attempted rape, burglary, strangulation, assault, menacing and harassment. Moran’s court-appointed lawyer entered a Not Guilty plea on his behalf, and the judge set bail at $1 million. He is next scheduled to appear in court on November 8. Morgan reportedly has a long arrest record dating back several years, mostly in Benton, Linn and Marion Counties with five prior felony convictions. He was convicted of a sex offense in 2020.

Originally reported KEZI9

What Can We Learn?

This woman prepared herself. Even though she had no idea that she was going to find herself in a life-changing predicament. One of the main things that I want to educate women about is being aware and prepared. These situations show how important these concepts are. Having any self-defense tool within your reach, a knife, a firearm, a baton, or anything that will fend off an attacker can make all the difference.