Alameda man held in fatal sword stabbing ALAMEDA

A 62-year-old Alameda man was arrested after stabbing a friend to death with a sword, police said Wednesday.

Joseph Wilson Groom was drinking beer and playing chess in his apartment at 1220 Park Ave. with Kelly Scott Kjersem, 40, when something went wrong about 9 p.m. Tuesday, police Lt. Bill Scott said.

The men fell to wrestling, Scott said. Groom went into a bedroom, retrieved a sword with a 21-inch blade and stabbed Kjersem in the stomach, police said.

A female friend of the men, who was in the kitchen making quesadillas, called police. Groom was arrested without further incident.

Police do not know what started the fight.