A recently released affidavit in the fatal stabbing of a Lawrence man on Memorial Day reveals the allegations that led to the arrest of an Oskaloosa man charged in the case — including the allegation that he laughed about the victim bleeding to death.

Joshaua Lee Back

Joshua Lee Back, 34, was charged May 28 with second-degree murder and felony theft of a truck in connection with the May 25 stabbing death of Tracy Dean Lautenschlager, 45. Lautenschlager had been discovered around 6:15 a.m., slumped over and bleeding on the east side of the McDonald’s parking lot at 1309 W. Sixth St.

According to the affidavit supporting Back’s arrest, officers responded to the scene and found Lautenschlager had collapsed in the grass with “a large amount of blood coming from the right side” of his neck. Medics responded and took Lautenschlager to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where he died within the hour.

Officers followed a blood trail that led to a home at 700 Arkansas St., where a pool of blood was found at the southeast door of the home. Three people inside the home were interviewed.

One witness told police that Lautenschlager, Back and another man — Jeremy McCarty — had smoked methamphetamine the night before at the Arkansas Street home. When officers interviewed McCarty, he said he’d heard Back on May 25 make “statement(s) indicating he had cut a person’s throat and laughed about the amount of blood squirting from the wound in Lawrence,” according to the affidavit.

“Back’s statement(s) indicated that he was referring to events that occurred on or about May 25, 2015,” Lawrence police detective Mike McAtee wrote in the affidavit.

Another witness was interviewed and said she noticed a gray 1992 GMC Sierra pickup truck that belonged to her mother but that was primarily used by her missing from the Arkansas Street home after the incident.

On May 26, another witness, identified as Steven Radcliff, corroborated what McCarty said he’d heard, according to the affidavit. Radcliff said he had been with Back on May 25 when Back “stated he cut a male’s throat,” McAtee wrote.

Radcliff had been driving Back to a “Bio-Foods plant so (Back) could remove a tire off a gray truck to put on another truck” when the statement was made. Radcliff said he forced Back to get out of his vehicle after Back allegedly made the incriminating comment.

Detectives searched a former Bio-Foods meat packing facility in Jefferson County May 26, according to the affidavit, and found the 1992 GMC Sierra truck that one witness reported missing. The vehicle was taken into evidence.

Back was arrested in Leavenworth County on May 27 after leading law enforcement on a chase in a “stolen gold color GMC Yukon” through Jefferson and Leavenworth counties, Capt. Mike Pattrick of the Lawrence Police Department said at the time.

The second-degree murder charge Back now faces indicates he “intentionally” killed Lautenschlager, according to court documents. Second-degree murder does not require an element of premeditation, unlike first-degree murder. The felony theft charge indicates the truck was valued at “at least $1,000 but less than $25,000.”

According to court records, Back was wanted on a warrant out of Douglas County at the time of the May 25 stabbing. The warrant had been issued after Back failed to appear for a court hearing on a November 2014 charge of felony interference with law enforcement.

Back pleaded no contest in 2001 to a misdemeanor count of criminal damage of property in Douglas County. According to the Kansas Department of Corrections, Back has a 2001 aggravated indecent liberties with a child conviction and a 2013 criminal possession of a weapon conviction out of Jefferson County.

The Journal-World reported in 2013 that Back had allegedly been “menacing people” in an Oskaloosa mobile home park with a sawed-off shotgun. It is illegal in Kansas to carry a shotgun with a barrel shorter than 18 inches and for convicted felons to possess firearms.

Back additionally has a 2011 conviction for obstructing the legal process from Shawnee County, according to the Department of Corrections.

Back remains in the Douglas County Jail on a $750,000 bond. He is scheduled to next appear in court on Nov. 6. His jury trial is currently scheduled for the week of Jan. 11.