An unimaginably horrific crime occurred on Monday in Austin, Texas, area and not enough people are talking about it. And it's a crime Texas voters might want to be thinking about when they make their way to the ballot box this November to choose a new senator.
A 62-year-old man had just visited his mother in a nursing home in Round Rock and taken her for a walk in a local park. After he got her settled back in at the home, he returned to the park on his own and sat down on a bench, minding his own business.
This is when, according to police, a complete stranger walked up behind the man, wrapped an arm around him, and proceeded to stab him repeatedly in the neck. Surveillance video reportedly shows the victim desperately trying to fight back before being overpowered by the suspect.
And then it got even worse.
According to the arrest affidavit, the attacker allegedly forced the man to the ground, knelt over him, and began moving the knife back and forth across his neck in a sawing motion. Some are describing it as an attempted beheading.
The victim was Andrew James Wimsatt, a 62-year-old engineer and longtime transportation researcher. A passerby later found him near the Chandler Creek Trail and called 911, but it was far too late to save Wimsatt.
Police arrested 26-year-old Benedict Ogbodiegwu Jr. and charged him with first-degree murder. There is no indication suspect knew the victim.
Andrew Wimsatt (62) was stabbed to death on a park bench 2 days ago in Round Rock, Texas by "Benedict" Ogbodiegwu
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 10, 2026
0 stories from AP about the attack
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0 stories from WSJ… pic.twitter.com/Z3YAYJQwqK
And the horror of Wimsatt's murder is compounded by the fact that the suspect was no stranger to local law enforcement. It turns out that Ogbodiegwu had been arrested at least three times before Wimsatt was killed – and the cases against him were dismissed each time.
A 2017 felony theft charge went away, then, after another arrest for theft in January, a judge ordered a competency evaluation and committed him for restoration. That charge was dismissed in April and a scheduled May competency hearing was canceled.
Ogbodiegwu was arrested again in May for allegedly giving police false identification, and that case was also dismissed.
Three arrests. Three dismissals. And now devoted son Andrew Wimsatt is dead.
NEW DETAILS on the murder and attempted beheading of a man at a Round Rock park.
— Austin Justice (@AustinJustice) September 10, 2026
Andrew James Wimsatt sat down on a bench that Monday morning in a plaid blue button-up and shorts. Three minutes later he was dead.
A neighbor's camera had already caught Benedict Ogbodiegwu Jr.… https://t.co/NvNYqyGQ31 pic.twitter.com/ns2VqO7fXi
NEW DETAILS on the murder and attempted beheading of a man at a Round Rock park.
Andrew James Wimsatt sat down on a bench that Monday morning in a plaid blue button-up and shorts. Three minutes later he was dead.
A neighbor's camera had already caught Benedict Ogbodiegwu Jr. leaving his house that morning, walking toward the park with something in his left pocket that detectives say looked like a large knife sticking out.
He stopped for a drink at the water fountain by the basketball court. Then he found Wimsatt.
He came from behind, wrapped his left arm around the man, and started driving the knife into his neck. Wimsatt tried to push him off. He couldn't. He was stabbed several more times before he hit the ground.
Then Ogbodiegwu walked around to his left side, knelt down, put his knee on the dying man's chest, and kept going -- sawing the blade back and forth while it was inside his neck.
He wiped the blade on his shirt and jogged off toward the pool.
Four minutes after he left the park, that same neighbor's camera caught him walking back home, two houses away.
That afternoon he turned up at a McDonald's in a different outfit and left as a passenger in a red SUV. The plate traced back to his father's house, nine-tenths of a mile from the bench.
When detectives showed him a still from the crime scene video, he admitted it was him. Then said he was never at the park. Then said he has a twin. Asked for his twin's name, he had nothing.
Deputies found a trash bag by the garage. Inside: the Honda shirt he was wearing at the murder scene, grey sweatpants with red stains, size 12 Jordans, and a 5.5-inch knife with a wooden handle. The red substance on the blade tested presumptive positive for human blood.
The two men had never met. He apparently decided to just stab a stranger.
In January, Ogbodiegwu was arrested for theft, which was dismissed. In May, arrested for giving police a fake name - also dismissed. Years earlier, he was arrested for theft.
The victim, Andrew Wimsatt, was 62 years old, and an accomplished civil engineer in Texas. He was also an avid nature and wildlife photography enthusiast.
Fox News host @greggutfeld called him “supremely gentle. Willing to do just about anything for another person.”
Before his murder, Andrew had just returned from visiting his mother a nearby nursing home.
These kinds of stories are becoming all too common in the United States – innocent Americans being slaughtered by bad guys who shouldn't be on the streets – and we can thank politicians like Democrat James Talarico for working to undermine law enforcement.
Talarico's opponent in the Texas Senate race, Ken Paxton, recently revealed that Talarico's campaign "proudly donated" to Austin Justice Coalition, a group that wants to defund the Austin Police Department.
"He's tried to take away funding," Paxton said in July while standing with leaders in the law enforcement community. "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."
Andrew Wimsatt’s murder puts the difference between the two in horrifyingly stark terms. Texas voters will soon decide in November which vision they trust to keep people safe – and they need to know about this horrifying murder before they make that decision.
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