A 62-year-old Austin engineer was stabbed to death from behind on a Round Rock park bench on Sept. 7, and the man now charged with his murder had been cycling in and out of the Williamson County jail for years, most recently walking free just three months before the killing.
Andrew James Wimsatt was attacked minutes after sitting down in the park following a visit to his mother at a nearby nursing home, according to authorities. Williamson County deputies have charged Benedict Chinedu Ogbodiegwu, 26, of the local area, with murder and theft.
Surveillance video captured the attack, according to the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities said Wimsatt sat on the bench around 11 a.m. when another man, allegedly Ogbodiegwu, grabbed him from behind and repeatedly drove a knife into his neck. A probable cause affidavit obtained by Fox 7 Austin states Wimsatt struggled but could not fight off his attacker as the stabbing continued. The suspect then wiped blood on his own shirt and walked away.
A witness found Wimsatt on the ground on Labor Day and called 911; paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
A record dating back to 2017
Ogbodiegwu’s criminal history in Williamson County goes back to at least 2017, when he was charged with theft. This year alone brought two more arrests, on theft and fake-identification charges. He was released from the county jail on June 9 after that stretch, and had also been locked up between January and April.
Investigators say they retraced his movements after the killing and recovered bloody clothes, the suspected murder weapon, and other physical evidence. When confronted with the video, Ogbodiegwu allegedly claimed to have a twin brother but could not name him. He is now held on $1 million bond, with a pre-indictment docket call set for Oct. 8 at 1:30 p.m.
Remembered by friends across the country
Wimsatt held a Ph.D. in civil engineering and worked for the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. He is credited on IMDB as an executive producer of the Penn Jillette film “Director’s Cut,” and kept an Instagram account of wildlife photos, old storefronts and city scenes.
He was also known to several Fox News personalities. Greg Gutfeld wrote on X that Wimsatt “might be the only person on social media to never leave a bad word on a post about anyone,” adding he was “relentless supportive and if he didn’t like something, he usually kept it to himself, or found a way to engage positively.”
Kat Timpf called him “a fan who became a friend” to her and her family, recalling a lunch together in Fort Worth in June and plans to see him at a Nevada show later this 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 said they spoke at least weekly for years, and Wimsatt was known for sending TV clips to members of the “Gutfeld!” cast. “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,” she said.
Tyrus, whose standup shows Wimsatt attended, described him as a man who “took care of his mother… always positive… he was kind man, 62 years old fragile looking but had a monster laugh.” He added, “I was honored to know him I was honored he cared so much and honored that my jokes and thoughts brought him joy.”
