Rifet Redzic (Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)

A 53-year-old man in Florida was arrested this week for allegedly killing his girlfriend, stabbing her multiple times — including once in the back — and then claiming her wounds were self-inflicted. Rifet Redzic was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count of first-degree murder in the slaying of 50-year-old Nafa Secic, authorities announced.

According to a news release from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, deputies assigned to the Patrol Operations Bureau at about 9:50 p.m. on the evening of March 9 responded to a call regarding an allegedly “suicidal subject” at a residence in the 2700 block of 62nd Avenue North in St. Petersburg, Florida, which is about 20 miles southwest of Tampa.

According to the release, the caller told the emergency dispatcher that his girlfriend, who he identified as Secic, had stabbed herself and was dead.

Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they located Secic in her bedroom suffering from what appeared to be multiple stab wounds to her chest and abdomen. She was pronounced dead on the scene and a knife found at the scene was taken into evidence.

Redzic was still at the scene when deputies found his girlfriend, and he spoke to investigators about what he claimed happened.

“He told detectives he was sleeping, and when he woke up, he witnessed Secic go to the kitchen and retrieve a knife before returning to their bedroom where she began stabbing herself,” the release states. “Redzic told detectives he attempted to stop Secic but was unsuccessful.”