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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A stabbing victim who died after stumbling into a restaurant Monday night, asking for help, has been identified as David Calbert, a 40-year-old painter who had been working at a home across the street.
Calbert's oldest brother, Steve Calbert, said his brother had been working at the house with another man Monday night.
"There was somebody there with him at the time, and that person has disappeared," he said. "They do not know where he is."
Detective Dwayne Baird said police had no motive or suspects.
DeWayne Thomas, a cook at Mama's Southern Plantation Restaurant, said Calbert came into the front door saying "help me, help me." He was covered in blood from his nose and mouth. Thomas asked a hostess to call 911, then took Calbert to an outside table while trying to find out what had happened.
Outside Calbert collapsed to the ground and Thomas held him on his side so he wouldn't choke on his own blood, which was hindering every attempt Calbert made to speak. He died shortly thereafter.
"I saw him take his last breath -- I was holding him when he died," Thomas said. "I have never experienced anything like that in my life. I couldn't help him and he couldn't tell me what was wrong."
Police say Calbert was stabbed in the house across the street, where they found a large amount of blood on the front lawn.
The Calberts grew up in a one-bedroom apartment in Cheyenne, Wyo., and learned at an early age how to work hard. Steve Calbert recalled the Sundays he and his brother spent as children selling newspapers to people coming into Cheyenne by train.
"My brother's always been a worker. He's always been a go-getter," he told the Deseret Morning News.
David Calbert played basketball at Central High School in Cheyenne.
"If he would have stuck with school he probably would have gone on to play pro ball," his brother said. "He ended up in some trouble along the way. No matter what he did wrong ,he always faced his problems head on."
Court records show that David Calbert had several convictions dating back to 1990 in Salt Lake County, mostly theft- and drug-related.
"Steven Calbert last spoke to his brother on the phone Monday about 3 p.m. when he expressed excitement at seeing his 12- and 14-year-old daughters, who were coming to see him for Halloween on Friday from their home in Laramie, Wyo.
Alicetine Calbert, the victim's wife, who was planning to arrive in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, said she didn't understand why anyone would want to hurt her husband.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
