Suspect in medical student’s stabbing death had dozens of run-ins with police

BOSTON — Winchester police brought stabbing suspect Jeffrey Yao to the hospital for psychological evaluations many times before he allegedly stabbed a University of New England medical student to death in the town library.

Deane Stryker

The Boston Globe reported that police documents chronicle Yao’s two dozen run-ins with police over the course of six years.

Yao, 23, is being held without bail after pleading not guilty last month to allegedly killing Deane “Kenny” Stryker on Feb. 24 with a 10-inch knife.

Stryker was a first-year student at the University of New England’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in Biddeford, Maine.

Yao’s attorney J.W. Carney Jr. has said Yao’s chronic mental illness played a role in the attack. Police reports show Yao’s behavior was first reported in 2012, when he posted shooting-related materials online. A child psychiatrist evaluated Yao and found him to not be a threat to others.

Yao will return to court April 11.

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