Background: The Advanced Process Technologies building in Cokato, Minnesota (Google Maps). Inset: David Bruce Delong (Wright County Sheriff's Office).
A man in Minnesota is accused of beating his co-worker over the head with a sledgehammer because he did not like her, killing the woman.
David Delong, 40, has been charged with second-degree murder, the Wright County Sheriff's Office announced. The violent incident occurred on Tuesday before the sun had risen.
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Prior to the clock striking 6 a.m., at the Advanced Process Technologies building in Cokato, Delong left his workstation and walked to the station of the victim. According to surveillance video cited by authorities, the suspect, who was wearing gloves, grabbed a sledgehammer from the victim's workstation and swung.
Delong swung the sledgehammer "in a horizontal movement" while the woman was believed to have been standing up, the sheriff's office said, noting that the victim was outside of the camera's view. The suspect can then be seen "forcefully swinging the sledgehammer four additional times in a downward fashion consistent with the victim being on the ground."
A probable cause statement puts the violent act bluntly: "The defendant bludgeoned the victim to death with multiple blows to the victim's head with the sledgehammer."
Delong "confessed" to killing the woman, according to authorities, telling them he "intended to kill the victim" and "admitted not liking" her. He had also "been planning to kill the victim for some time."
Deputies responded to the worksite to find the woman on the cement floor of the building near her workstation "with very significant head trauma and substantial blood loss." A bloody sledgehammer was on the floor near her. First responders tried to save the victim, but she died "because of blunt force trauma to her head and corresponding blood loss."
Delong was quickly identified as a suspect. A witness reported that Delong told him something along the lines of "I hit her with your hammer, she is by your toolbox, she is gone."
The victim was later identified as 20-year-old Amber Czech, according to Minneapolis-based NBC affiliate KARE. She was remembered as being hard-working, outgoing, and passionate about welding.
Delong was arrested and booked into the Wright County Jail. He faces up to 40 years in prison. Wright County Attorney Brian Lutes said he will review the case to consider whether to convene a grand jury in pursuit of elevating the charge to first-degree murder.
The defendant is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 24.
Cokato is located about 50 miles west of Minneapolis.