A beloved Texas engineer who became close friends with Fox News stars Greg Gutfeld and Kat Timpf was murdered in an unprovoked attack while sitting on a park bench, police and reports said.
Andrew James Wimsatt, 62, of Austin, was slain Sept. 7 — just moments after sitting down in the park following a visit with his mother at her Round Rock nursing home, according to Fox News.
Williamson County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 26-year-old Benedict Chinedu Ogbodiegwu on murder and theft charges after surveillance cameras captured the brutal 11 a.m. attack.
Ogbodiegwu allegedly grabbed Wimsatt from behind and repeatedly stabbed him in the neck before wiping blood off his shirt and walking away, court filings obtained by Fox 7 Austin show.
Wimsatt — a retired civil engineer with a Ph.D. who worked for the Texas A&M Transportation Institute — was a well-known regular among the cast of “Gutfeld!” and the former show “Red Eye.”
Over years of clipping show segments and attending live events, he formed close personal ties with network personalities.
“The crime, to me, is so heinous and shocking that I’m still trying to comprehend it,” Gutfeld told Fox News Digital. “I may never.”
“At first, I was suspicious, because I always assume people do things because they want things,” Gutfeld said.
“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.”
Libertarian pundit Kat Timpf was also left “shocked, disgusted and angry” by the sudden loss of her longtime friend.
“Andrew was a fan who became a friend,” she wrote on X.
“Cam and I just had lunch with him in Fort Worth in June, when he drove from Austin to see my return to the stage after my father’s sudden death in May.”
Timpf said she and Wimsatt stayed in touch weekly for years, offering her encouragement whenever online trolls targeted her.
“He was so kind and generous it almost seems impossible,” Timpf told Fox News Digital.
“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.”
A passerby alerted police after finding Wimsatt on the ground in the park on Monday.
First responders pronounced him dead at the scene, according to Fox News.
Cops tracked down Ogbodiegwu after uncovering blood-soaked clothes and the bloody murder weapon.
When confronted, the suspect offered a wild defense, claiming he had a twin brother — but couldn’t even give cops a name.
Ogbodiegwu boasts a rap sheet in Williamson County stretching back to 2017, Fox News reported.
In 2026 alone, he was arrested twice for theft and carrying a fake ID.
He was released from jail in early June after serving a stint behind bars from January to April.
Ogbodiegwu is currently held on $1 million bond and is due back in court Oct. 8.
Read the full article here
