(KNSI) — A Wright County judge has set bail at $2 million for the man accused of beating his coworker to death with a sledgehammer.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called Tuesday morning around 6:00 to Advance Process Technologies in Cokato after a woman was found dead at her work station. First responders and police arrived and attempted life-saving measures, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. A fellow employee, 40-year-old David Bruce Delong, confessed to another employee that he assaulted the woman, identified by family as 20-year-old Amber Czech, with a hammer, and “she is gone.”
Police reviewed surveillance footage, which shows Delong leaving his workstation and walking over to the woman, picking up a sledgehammer, and hitting her with it, knocking her to the ground. She is off camera, but investigators say the video shows he continued to hit her.
Court papers say he confessed to investigators he didn’t like the woman and had been planning to kill her “for some time.”
Delong is charged with one count of second degree murder with intent, not premeditated.
The Honorable Judge Kari Willis set bail at $2 million with conditions, which include surrendering his passport and any firearms, remaining law abiding, and having no contact with the Czech family. Bail is $5 million without.
Delong’s next court date is set for November 24th.
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