'Murder in progress': Police tried to spare attacker's life as they saved woman from assault

'Murder in progress': Police tried to spare attacker's life as they saved woman from assault Maegan Ball stands for a portrait in Saugus, Mass., on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. In December 2018, police were requested to make a wellness check on a man by his mother. Officers found him severely beating Ball. Erich Stelzer, 25, who Ball met on a dating app, had beaten her face until bones shattered, stabbed her with a knife, gouged her eyes and tried to drive a wooden stake into her stomach. Two of the officers used their Tasers and managed to handcuff Stelzer as he thrashed on the floor. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa) (Charles Krupa/Maegan Ball stands for a portrait in Saugus, Mass., on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. In December 2018, police were requested to make a wellness check on a man by his mother. Officers found him severely beating Ball. Erich Stelzer, 25, who Ball met on a dating app, had beaten her face until bones shattered, stabbed her with a knife, gouged her eyes and tried to drive a wooden stake into her stomach. Two of the officers used their Tasers and managed to handcuff Stelzer as he thrashed on the floor. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa))