A man held hostage at knifepoint by his roommate told a judge Tuesday that he was clutching a stab wound on his neck when he rushed out of his West Hollywood apartment and was shot by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies.

Liam Mulligan was wounded, but another hostage, his friend John Winkler, was fatally shot by deputies during the April 7 incident. The Sheriff’s Department later said the deputies mistook Winkler, an aspiring television producer, for the assailant who had taken the men hostage.

Mulligan said his roommate, Alexander McDonald, had been acting strangely moments before he pulled a kitchen knife on Mulligan, Winkler and a third man watching the NBA finals on television in the apartment.

“‘You guys are going to die tonight,’” Mulligan recalled McDonald telling them. “‘Maybe one of you will live.’”


The testimony came during a preliminary hearing in Airport Court for McDonald, who is accused of murder in connection with Winkler’s death, two counts of attempted murder and one count of torture.

Mulligan testified that McDonald, 28, sat down on the couch next to one of the other hostages and ran the blade of the knife up and down the man’s leg.

“‘You’re not real people,’” he told them.

When they heard knocks at the door and screams of “Police!” the defendant became nervous, Mulligan said. He testified that McDonald told them not to move or say anything and that a few minutes later he stabbed one of the hostages in the leg. As Mulligan jumped in to try to subdue him, the defendant stabbed him in the neck.


As blood spurted out of his neck, Mulligan rushed for the door. Winkler followed him, also attempting to escape. Sheriff’s deputies mistook Winkler for the attacker and opened fire, hitting both fleeing hostages.

“Basically I opened the door and immediately took a bullet to the leg,"Mulligan told the court.

Winkler was shot in the chest and died.

For more Los Angeles County criminal courts news, follow @marisagerber.