The way I understand it, he got mixed up with some girl who turned him on to meth and then convinced him that her ex bf had been harassing her to the point where they needed to myrtle him and put him in the river.

An extremely common weapon is just whatever paper you can get your hands on, rolled up really really tight and folded over. You use it like a knife, targeting the neck or soft spots. I don’t think it’s used with intent to kill usually.