Round Rock stabbing: 26-year-old charged with murder after Labour Day park attack
Benedict Chinedu Ogbodiegwu, 26, faces murder charges in the stabbing death of 62-year-old Andrew Wimsatt at a Round Rock park on 7 September.
Arrest affidavit reveals details of Labour Day stabbing in Round Rock park
Court documents filed on 9 September have laid out the evidence that led to the arrest of Benedict Chinedu Ogbodiegwu, 26, in connection with the stabbing death of 62-year-old Andrew James Wimsatt at a park on Chandler Creek Boulevard in Round Rock, Texas, fox7austin.com reports.
A woman discovered Wimsatt's body near a park bench at approximately 11:15 a.m. on 7 September — Labour Day — in the 2400 block of Chandler Creek Boulevard, close to Double File Trail Elementary School. She contacted 911 after finding him with significant injuries.
Surveillance footage traces the attack
HOA video obtained by investigators showed Wimsatt seated on the bench at around 10:55 a.m. Minutes later, footage captured a man approaching from behind with a knife in hand, stabbing Wimsatt in the neck while restraining him with his other arm. Wimsatt is seen on the footage attempting to push the attacker away, but without success.
The suspect stabbed Wimsatt several more times before wiping the blade on his shirt and fleeing towards the pool area. Additional footage tracked him running north of the pool and in the direction of N AW Grimes Boulevard.
Investigators recovered a palm print from a water fountain near the basketball court, lifted from footage recorded before the attack.
McDonald's visit and a red SUV lead detectives to a suspect
Hours after the attack, surveillance cameras at a McDonald's on E. Palm Valley Boulevard captured a man — now wearing a different set of clothes — who matched the suspect's description. The restaurant footage also showed him getting into a red SUV in the car park.
Detectives traced the vehicle to Ogbodiegwu's family and established that it was registered to a home less than a mile on foot from the park. A further canvass of the neighbourhood produced additional footage: a man in the same clothes worn during the attack was seen walking westbound near that address at around 10:22 a.m., with what appeared to be an object in his left pocket, and returning eastbound at around 11:05 a.m.
Affidavit details suspect's statements
Detectives interviewed Ogbodiegwu at the home and determined he matched the description of the individual seen in all three sets of surveillance footage. When shown a still image from the crime scene, he allegedly acknowledged it was him, but denied having been in the park that morning. He also claimed to have a twin, but was unable to supply the twin's name when asked, according to the affidavit.
A residential search warrant executed at the property produced a white bin bag in an outdoor rubbish bin containing a black shirt, grey sweatpants and dark shoes consistent with those worn by the man in the HOA video, along with a 5.5-inch knife with a wooden handle. The sweatpants showed red stains, and the blade tested presumptive positive for blood.
No motive established; attack believed to be random
The arrest affidavit filed in Williamson County does not state a motive for the killing. The Williamson County Sheriff's Office has previously said that preliminary evidence and information gathered so far led investigators to believe the attack was random, and that Wimsatt and Ogbodiegwu were not known to each other.
Ogbodiegwu has been formally charged with murder.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)