Massachusetts man sentenced to state prison after gas station stabbing turned fatal

BROCKTON – A Massachusetts man was sentenced to State Prison after being convicted in the stabbing death of another man, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz has announced.

After an eight-day trial in July, a jury deliberated for over six hours before finding Cody Urban, 25, of South Boston, guilty of Voluntary Manslaughter in the death of 31-year-old Samuel Rutledge of Brockton. Superior Court Judge Robert Gordon heard victim impact statements from members of Rutledge’s family, and he sentenced Urban to 11 to 13 years in State Prison. The Commonwealth recommended that Urban serve 18 to 20 years.

On August 23, 2020, just before 10:00 p.m., officials from Good Samaritan Hospital notified Brockton Police to report that a stabbing victim had come into the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Brockton Police learned that the male victim, later identified as Rutledge, was stabbed at a gas station located at 81 Warren Avenue. Brockton Police responded to that address, secured the scene, and contacted Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office and the Massachusetts State Police Crime Scene Services Section, and an investigation began.

Through their investigation, detectives learned that Rutledge was involved in an altercation with Urban and punched him. Urban stabbed Rutledge multiple times and then fled the scene in a white motor vehicle. Rutledge returned to his car and a female drove him to the hospital where he later was pronounced dead.

Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office sought and obtained an arrest warrant for Urban. At approximately 6:15 a.m. on August 27, 2020, Massachusetts State Police, Brockton Police, the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, along with Manchester, N.H. Police and New Hampshire State Police, located Urban in an apartment in Manchester, N.H., and he was placed under arrest.