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Cheat at Monopoly? Get Stabbed by Your Girlfriend

By Cynthia Hsu, Esq. on October 31, 2011 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Here's a life lesson that all you board game enthusiasts should take to heart: don't cheat at Monopoly. Your actions can come back and stab you. Literally.

Laura Chavez, 60, of New Mexico is learning this exact lesson in court.

She's accused of stabbing her boyfriend, Clyde Smith, after a friendly game of Monopoly turned violent.

The family game originally included Chavez, Smith and Chavez's 10-year-old grandson.

When an argument ignited, Chavez allegedly accused Smith of cheating at the board game. The 10-year-old went to sleep at around 11 p.m. while his grandmother and her boyfriend continued to argue the legality of his Monopoly movements.

The young boy awoke to the sounds of sirens. Chavez had hit Smith over the head with a glass bottle. She also grabbed and knife and stabbed him, cutting him on his neck, face, arms, and hands.

It was a bloody conclusion to the family-friendly board game.

It's unclear why Chavez thought her boyfriend was cheating at the game. Perhaps she saw him try to sneak a few fake hundreds from the game's "bank." Or maybe he was pilfering a few hotel pieces and secretly erecting the buildings on his properties.

It's also possible that someone can try to get ahead in the game by landing on "Community Chest" a few too many times.

Some people will do anything to win at Monopoly. In fact, infamous Colombian drug dealer Pablo Escobar was known to hide Monopoly money underneath sofa cushions hours before a game would even begin.

Though cheating at a game of Monopoly may be an egregious offense in many families, it's nowhere near as egregious as a stabbing.

Laura Chavez was charged with aggravated battery against a household member with a deadly weapon, reports KOAT-TV. Her actions surely taught her boyfriend a lesson not to cheat at monopoly. But they may also caused Chavez to "go directly to jail" without passing Go or collecting $200.

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