A 62-year-old Round Rock man was stabbed to death on a park bench Monday in an attack authorities say came from a stranger with no known connection to him. The suspect, 26-year-old Benedict Ogbodiegwu Jr., had been arrested at least three times before the killing, and each of those cases was dismissed, according to court records.
The victim, Andrew James Wimsatt, was a civil engineer and longtime transportation researcher. According to police, he had just walked his mother, a resident of a nearby nursing home, through a local park and returned alone to sit on a bench near the Chandler Creek Trail when he was attacked.
Police say Ogbodiegwu approached Wimsatt from behind, wrapped an arm around him, and stabbed him repeatedly in the neck. Surveillance footage reportedly shows Wimsatt attempting to fight off his attacker before being forced to the ground. According to the arrest affidavit, Ogbodiegwu then knelt over Wimsatt and moved the knife back and forth across his neck. A passerby found Wimsatt and called 911, but he could not be saved.
Investigators say a neighbor’s home security camera captured Ogbodiegwu leaving his house that morning with what detectives described as a large knife visible in his pocket. The footage reportedly shows him stopping at a water fountain near a basketball court before encountering Wimsatt, and shows him returning home roughly four minutes after leaving the park. Later that day, he was seen at a McDonald’s in different clothing before leaving as a passenger in a red SUV registered to an address about nine-tenths of a mile from the park bench.
When detectives showed Ogbodiegwu a still image from the surveillance video, he reportedly admitted it was him, then said he had never been at the park, then claimed he had a twin brother. He could not provide a name for the alleged twin, according to the affidavit.
Deputies said they later found a trash bag near a garage containing a shirt matching the one worn by the attacker in the crime-scene footage, sweatpants with red stains, a pair of size 12 sneakers, and a 5.5-inch knife with a wooden handle. The substance on the blade tested presumptive positive for human blood, police said.
Ogbodiegwu has been charged with first-degree murder. Police have said there is no indication he and Wimsatt knew each other.
A History of Dismissed Charges
Court records show Ogbodiegwu had three prior arrests, none of which resulted in a conviction. A 2017 felony theft charge was dismissed. Following a January arrest on another theft charge, a judge ordered a competency evaluation and committed him for restoration; that charge was dismissed in April, and a competency hearing scheduled for May was canceled. In May, he was arrested again, this time for allegedly giving police false identification. That case was also dismissed.
The Case Enters a Senate Race
The killing has surfaced in Texas’s U.S. Senate race. Ken Paxton, running against Democrat James Talarico, said in July that Talarico’s campaign had donated to the Austin Justice Coalition, a group that has called for cutting funding to the Austin Police Department.
“He’s tried to take away funding,” Paxton said, standing with law enforcement leaders. “He supported efforts with his own money to defund the police in Austin. His voting record is abysmal as it relates to law enforcement and protecting our communities. He’s done everything he can to hurt the safety of our communities. I’ve done everything I can to make sure that our communities are safer.”
Wimsatt’s family and friends have described him as an engineer with a passion for nature and wildlife photography. Fox News host Greg Gutfeld, who knew him, called him “supremely gentle” and said he was “willing to do just about anything for another person.”
Ogbodiegwu remains in custody on the murder charge. No trial date has been set.
Add comment