Beloved Texas Man Killed, Nearly Beheaded in Random Knife Attack by Alleged Repeat Offender

A repeat offender has been arrested after a Texas man was killed and nearly beheaded as he sat on a park bench.Andrew Wimsatt had just taken his mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s Disease, for a walk when he was attacked at Round Rock, Texas.The attacker stabbed Mr. Wimsatt in the neck while wrapping his other arm around him. Security footage showed Mr. Wimsatt unsuccessfully attempting to push the man off before he fell to the ground at just before 11 a.m. on Labor Day in Round Rock, Texas.A criminal affidavit said the attacker then put his knee on Wimsatt’s chest and started sawing the knife across his neck in an apparent effort to behead him before running away. Round Rock police used security footage to help track down Benedict Chinedu Ogbodiegwu in connection with the killing. Mr. Ogbodiegwu has been charged with murder but authorities do not have a motive for the attack. Investigators believe the attack was random.Mr. Ogbodiegwu was being held Friday at the Williamson County Jail on a $1 million bond. Mr. Ogbodiegwu was charged with stealing in 2017. In January he was arrested for theft and in June he was arrested for giving false or fictitious information.There was an outpouring of tributes to Mr. Wimsatt, an accomplished civil engineer, from several Fox News personalities who called him a friend. A panelist on Fox News Channel’s late night program “Gutfeld!,” Kat Timpf, said Mr. Wimsatt was a fan who became a friend. “Andrew was a rare person: Genuinely kind just for the sake of it; it quite clearly never occurred to him to expect anything in return,” Ms. Timpf said in an X post.“I am haunted and horrified thinking of his final moments, and beyond furious that this was the end the world gave him, the same world that he’d always gone out of his way to make a better place,” Ms. Timpf added.Greg Gutfeld paid tribute to Wimsatt Wednesday. “He would do anything for you and never ask for anything in return,” Mr. Gutfeld said on “The Five.” “Rest in peace,” Mr. Gutfeld added. David Burge, who has amassed a large social media following for his commentary on his Iowahawk blog, described Wimsatt as a well respected civil engineer who was also a fan of punk rock, surrealist art, and mid-century modern art. He said Wimsatt was also a supporter of libertarian causes, particularly free speech on campus. “Supernice as they come, never an angry word about anyone, which makes this all the more incomprehensible,” Mr. Burge said in an X post.“Heartbroken to learn that our good friend @ajwimsatt was murdered in Texas in a random attack. Truly one of the sweetest, kindest people I knew. Unbelievable tragedy,” podcast host Yael Bar tur said in an X post.“Andrew Wimsatt was a beautiful, gentle, generous man,” an editor at large for Reason magazine, Matt Welch, said on X. “We are reeling, and remembering him with fondness and gratitude.”When detectives showed Mr. Ogbodiegwu a photo of himself at the crime scene, he allegedly acknowleged it was him, but claimed not to have been at the park that morning. He also said that he had a twin brother, but could not provide the twin’s name when asked, according to the affidavit. Detectives got a search warrant for Mr. Ogbodiegwu’s home and found a 5-and-a-half-inch knife with blood on it and sweatpants with red stains.An X account that provides real-time updates on Austin crime and public safety issues, Austin Justice, reported that Wimsatt is survived by his siblings and his mother, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Wimsatt had just taken his mother for a walk and had stopped at the park moments before the attack.

Beloved Texas Man Killed, Nearly Beheaded in Random Knife Attack by Alleged Repeat Offender

Beloved Texas Man Killed, Nearly Beheaded in Random Knife Attack by Alleged Repeat Offender

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