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Murder suspect Christopher Vickerman charged again with assaulting another inmate at jail

Murder suspect Christopher Alan Vickerman, 29, is accused of punching another inmate at the Ward County Jail on May 18.

Vickerman is charged with Class B misdemeanor simple assault in district court in Minot.

It is the second time Vickerman has been charged with getting into a fight at the jail, where he is awaiting trial on a charge that he murdered his father on May 10, 2019.

Last year Vickerman assaulted another inmate at the jail in a fight over a sugar packet on Aug. 29, 2019. Vickerman punched the other man in the face without provocation. He pleaded guilty to the assault and was sentenced to two days time served and $125 in court costs.

In the latest incident, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with the court, the alleged victim had been sitting talking on the phone when Vickerman came up behind him and attacked him. Camera footage showed Vickerman approach the other man on his left side, say something to the alleged victim, and then punch the other man. Vickerman and the other man went to the ground, got back on their feet, then Vickerman punched the other man a few more times and they went to the ground again. The alleged victim got on top of Vickerman and held him on the ground until correctional officers came along to separate them.

Vickerman later told authorities that the other man had tried to stab him with a pencil the last time they were in jail together and he did not want to give the other man a chance to grab a weapon this time so he confronted him while he was on the phone.

The alleged victim also told authorities that he was not supposed to have been placed in the same pod as Vickerman and asked jail staff if anyone was in the pod he was going to, since he was not supposed to be around Vickerman. The alleged victim was taken to the Trinity Emergency Room for treatment of his injuries.

In the other case, Vickerman is scheduled to go to trial in Minot on Aug. 18 for Class AA felony murder.

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