Madison police on Friday continued to piece together how Wednesday night's fatal stabbing occurred outside a Downtown tavern.

Meanwhile, bail was set at $250,000 for the man accused of killing Juan J. Bernal, 22, of Madison, who was stabbed twice in the chest at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday outside the Plaza Tavern and Grill, 319 N. Henry St., and died Thursday morning. According to a probable cause affadavit filed in Dane County Circuit Court, both knife wounds punctured Bernal's heart.

At a bail hearing Friday for Justin R. Stout, 31, of Madison, Assistant District Attorney Mike Verveer said the stabbing stemmed from a disagreement that began inside the bar over music being played on the jukebox. Formal charges against Stout are expected to be filed early next week.

"Unbelievably, this was the result of a dispute over music," Verveer said.

But Nathan Kimbrough, 23, who identified himself as Bernal's friend and roommate and said he was with Bernal and other friends Wednesday night at the Plaza, said he was not aware of any prior contact between Bernal and two men who allegedly jumped him outside the bar.

Kimbrough said Bernal had gone outside with another patron to smoke a cigarette, and as Bernal was returning, the two men directed a racial slur at him as they were leaving the bar. Bernal said something back to them. Then one of the men hit Bernal, who fought back, Kimbrough said.

"Who's not going to fight back when two guys are trying to attack you?" Kimbrough said.

"This is a good guy," Kimbrough said of Bernal. "I just want people to know that. He was not in the wrong in this."

Kimbrough said Bernal shared a close relationship with his 3-year-old son.

Along with his son, Kian, Bernal is survived by his mother, JoAnn Bernal of Madison, and his father, Bernardo Bernal, of San Antonio, a retired Madison police officer who was seriously injured in 1990 when a drunk driver slammed into his squad car near the scene of a crash on the Beltline.

Kimbrough said that when Bernal's friends realized what was happening outside the bar, they went to his aid. "We basically fought the guys off of him," he said. "We were coming to help our friend because he was getting jumped."

Yarnell Fuller, 22, of Madison, said he and another of Bernal's friends, Brian Adams, chased and detained one of the men, whom police identified as Travis C. Knapp, 34, of Madison.

On Friday, bail was set at $5,000 for Knapp, who is being held in Dane County jail on one count of felony bail jumping for having consumed alcohol in violation of his bail conditions. He is awaiting sentencing following a felony conviction for substantial battery for punching a woman in the face on State Street in February after she asked him for a cigarette.

Verveer said Knapp's blood alcohol level at the time of his arrest was 0.13 percent. The legal alcohol limit for drivers in Wisconsin is 0.08.

Madison Police Central District Capt. Mary Schauf said it is not unusual for witnesses' accounts to appear to conflict with one another. She said a more complete picture of what occurred would emerge from the investigation.

Verveer said that in interviews with police, both Knapp and Plaza employees said there had been a verbal dispute between Bernal, Knapp and Stout inside the bar over what music should be played on the jukebox, though no physical altercation took place in the bar.

According to the probable cause affadavit, Knapp told police that as he and Stout left the Plaza, Stout told him that he had just stabbed someone. Knapp also told police that he disposed of the knife Stout had used.

Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain said police have not recovered the weapon.

Knapp also directed police to Stout's West Gilman Street apartment, where Stout was arrested, the affadavit said.

Verveer said Stout, who appeared in court Friday wearing a quilted suicide prevention gown and had several stitches visible on his shaved head, was not cooperating with police.

Gina Bosben, an attorney appearing with Stout, said he has been in Madison for one year and has been working full-time at the Concourse Hotel.

Stout was released from a Tennessee prison in August 2007 after serving just over two years of a three-year prison term for aggravated burglary stemming from a 2005 theft of DVDs from his ex-wife's home.

According to his FBI record, Stout has a history of domestic violence, Verveer said.

Bosben said Knapp, who appeared in court Friday with a large bruise under his left eye, has been in Madison for seven years. For the past two years Knapp has worked for J.B.D. Painting, she said.

Records show Knapp has a criminal history in five states, including Wisconsin.

Kimbrough said he, Bernal and their other friends were regulars at the Plaza, where they would go several times a week. "For something like that happen to us ... that's like a home to us," he said. "We don't go out and have bar fights."

Bernal was sentenced to 20 days in jail for attacking a bartender at the Good Times Bar, 57 S. Stoughton Road, in 2005 after the bartender told him the tavern was closing.

But Kimbrough said Bernal had "changed a lot" since then. "He was a guy who was just trying to change his life."