D.A.: Coworker stabbed to death after prank

The man stabbed to death Wednesday at a Franconia meatpacking plant had feuded with and pranked the coworker who is now charged with killing him, prosecutors said Thursday.

Peter Jok Atem, 32, allegedly stabbed Danny Vazquez, 25, and then slashed his own neck Wednesday morning at the Mopac plant on Souder Road, the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office said.

One employee told investigators that Atem and Vazquez had been "having words back and forth . . . for the past six months," according to the criminal complaint.

Another said that on Tuesday, Vazquez had tried to pull Atem's chair out from under him. The employee said Atem told Vazquez "he was going to get you for that."

The next morning at work, the employee said, the two men started fighting, and Atem had Vazquez on the floor, choking him. The man later saw Atem stabbing Vazquez, prosecutors said.

Vazquez collapsed on the floor and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Atem was found in a shed near the scene of the stabbing, the District Attorney's Office said. His neck had been slashed and his torso stabbed, wounds authorities said were self-inflicted, according to the criminal complaint.

Atem was airlifted to Paoli Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery and remained in treatment Thursday.

Also in the shed, detectives found a knife and a note that said, in part, "You think you can destroyed my life in front of my family, friends and the all world and lived . . . See you in hell. Life for life," according to the criminal complaint.

Atem, who the complaint says was born in Sudan and lives in Lansdale, has no criminal record of violence. But in cases from 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, he was charged with driving under the influence, driving an unregistered vehicle, and disorderly conduct, and his landlord evicted him.

Because he is still in the hospital, Atem had yet to be arraigned, the District Attorney's Office said.

Vazquez, according to his Facebook page, graduated from Kensington High School and worked as a "master utility operator" at the plant. He recently bought a home in Northeast Philadelphia with his wife and children.

Over the last year, Vazquez posted many comments about family, football, and other interests, but mentioned no problems at work.

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