A 62-year-old civil engineer with ties to several Fox News personalities was stabbed to death from behind while sitting on a park bench in Round Rock, Texas, and the man arrested has a criminal record stretching back at least seven years.

Andrew James Wimsatt had just visited his mother at a nearby nursing home on the morning of Sept. 7 when he sat down on a bench in a Round Rock park around 11 a.m. Minutes later, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Fox 7 Austin, a 26-year-old local man named Benedict Chinedu Ogbodiegwu allegedly grabbed Wimsatt from behind and repeatedly drove a knife into his neck. Surveillance video captured the attack. Wimsatt struggled but could not push his attacker away.

Ogbodiegwu allegedly wiped the blood off on his shirt and walked out of view. A witness found Wimsatt on the ground and called 911. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. It was Labor Day.

Williamson County deputies arrested Ogbodiegwu the same day on murder and theft charges. He is being held on $1 million bond. His next court date, a pre-indictment docket call, meaning formal indictment has not yet come, is set for Oct. 8 at 1:30 p.m. Authorities described the attack as random.

A criminal record dating to 2017 and two arrests this year alone

Ogbodiegwu's criminal history in Williamson County goes back to at least 2017, when he was charged with stealing. He was arrested twice more in the current year on charges involving theft and carrying fake identification. He spent January through April in the county jail, and after his most recent release on June 9, he was back on the street, less than three months before Wimsatt's death.

When investigators confronted Ogbodiegwu with the surveillance footage, he allegedly claimed he had a twin brother. He could not provide the twin's name.

Investigators recovered fingerprints, bloody clothing, and the suspected murder weapon. The affidavit does not describe a motive beyond the sheriff's office characterization of the attack as random.

The case follows a pattern familiar to communities across Texas and the country: a suspect with a documented history of arrests cycles through the system, gets released, and is free to commit violence against someone who had no reason to expect danger on a sunny morning in a public park. Stabbing cases involving repeat offenders have drawn growing scrutiny, as seen in a recent Collin County murder case where trial evidence in a fatal stabbing raised hard questions about the system's ability to keep dangerous people off the street.

Fox News hosts remember a 'kind, generous man'

Wimsatt was not a public figure. He held a Ph.D. in civil engineering and worked for the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, staying on part-time after retiring. He lived in Austin. He is credited on IMDB as an executive producer of Penn Jillette's horror-comedy film "Director's Cut." His Instagram account featured photos of wildlife, vintage storefronts, and city landscapes.

But he had built real friendships with several Fox News personalities, starting years ago as a fan of Greg Gutfeld's late-night show "Red Eye." He clipped segments, attended live events, and sent clips to members of the "Gutfeld!" cast. What began as fandom became something more personal.

Gutfeld told Fox News Digital he was still struggling to process what happened:

"The crime, to me, is so heinous and shocking that I'm still trying to comprehend it. I may never."

Gutfeld said he had initially been skeptical of Wimsatt's motives, the way anyone in public life might be wary of an eager stranger, but came to see something genuine.

"At first, I was suspicious, because I always assume people do things because they want things. I was wrong with Andrew. He did stuff for people, lots of people, because he enjoyed being of service, and promoting stuff that he genuinely enjoys and believes in."

Gutfeld's sharpest words were reserved not for the suspect but for the system that put Ogbodiegwu back on the street after repeated arrests.

"He was a kind, generous man, nearly beheaded in a park on a sunny morning, for no reason, just because. I believe everyone who allowed the person who killed him to roam free like that, deserve severe accountability."

That phrase, "everyone who allowed the person who killed him to roam free", lands harder when you lay it against the timeline. Ogbodiegwu sat in the Williamson County jail from January through April. He was released on June 9. Ninety days later, Wimsatt was dead. The accountability questions in cases like these extend well beyond Texas; a Texas parole supervisor was recently fired after her conduct in a separate case spotlighted the judgment of those entrusted with managing offenders in the system.

Kat Timpf: 'He always supported me'

Fox News contributor Kat Timpf described Wimsatt as "a fan who became a friend." The two had lunch together in Fort Worth in June. They spoke once a week or more for years. She was expecting to see him at a show in Nevada later in the month.

"He was so kind and generous it almost seems impossible. He always supported me... whether that was sending me clips I wanted to post or offering truly helpful words of encouragement during the times throughout my career that the internet was piling on me."

Timpf added that Wimsatt served as a counterweight to the hostility that comes with a public-facing career in media.

"Whenever the rest of the internet was making me feel hopeless about the state of the world, I could always count on a message from Andrew to remind me of the good that's out there, too."

Fox News personality Tyrus, whose standup shows Wimsatt attended, offered his own tribute. Wimsatt, he said, "took care of his mother... always positive... he was kind man, 62 years old fragile looking but had a monster laugh. I was honored to know him I was honored he cared so much and honored that my jokes and thoughts brought him joy."

Surveillance video, a weak alibi, and a system that keeps failing

The probable cause affidavit paints a grim picture. Wimsatt sat down at 11 a.m. after visiting his mother. The attack came from behind. He fought. He lost. The suspect walked away. A witness found him on the ground. Paramedics could do nothing.

Ogbodiegwu's alleged claim of a twin brother, offered without a name, is the kind of defense that speaks for itself. The evidence collected includes fingerprints, the suspected weapon, and bloody clothing. The surveillance footage captured the killing.

No defense statement or attorney for Ogbodiegwu has been publicly identified. The pre-indictment docket call on Oct. 8 will be the next procedural step. The case remains in Williamson County jurisdiction.

Violent crimes committed by suspects with long arrest histories and short jail stays are not isolated to any single county or state. An Alabama stabbing case earlier this year raised similar questions about how the system handles dangerous individuals before they escalate to the worst possible outcome.

Andrew Wimsatt visited his mother, sat on a park bench on a sunny morning, and never got up. The man accused of killing him had been arrested repeatedly and released repeatedly. Gutfeld is right to ask who deserves accountability for that. The answer ought to be uncomfortable for anyone who had a hand in putting Ogbodiegwu back on the street.