Holiday shoppers at a South Carolina Walmart watched in horror as a man stabbed his wife to death in the store during a heated argument, authorities said.
The big box retailer remained opened for business after the grisly slaying, police and witnesses said.
Avery Blandin, 46, of Simpsonville, is facing murder charges for brutally stabbing his wife, Lila Blandin, 38, as she was worked at a bank located inside the Greenville store on Saturday, cops told local station WYFF.
Phillip Tallent was shopping for Christmas lights with his family when he heard the chilling screams.
“When I looked, I could see a couple of stabbing motions, and I started to run towards the front,” Tallent told the station. “When I got up there … (the man) was making a stomping motion at (the woman) across her chest and neck area.”
Blandin fled the scene, but cops caught up with him after he wrecked his truck during the getaway attempt, police said.
Lila Blandin died later at a local hospital, authorities said.
Holiday bargain hunters said they were sickened that the store didn’t close after the gruesome attack.
“I saw there was blood everywhere, on the ground, on the table, on the wall,” shopper Brittany King told WYFF. “It’s disrespectful to the family that it happened to. Especially the people and the employees who saw it happen.”
Greenville County deputies said it was the store’s decision to stay open after police arrived and roped off the gore-splattered crime scene.
“We did, as requested, close our grocery checkout area to allow the police to do their work and provide some level of privacy, given the circumstances,” Walmart spokeswoman Dianna Gee told WYFF.
Blandin was being held in the Greenville County Detention Center.
