Murder charge in brutal beating, stabbing

A Burnsville man was charged with second-degree murder in the brutal slaying of a Minneapolis man whose body was found when fire trucks responded to a report of smoke, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Friday.

Larry Foster, 66, was charged with the single count in the death of 60-year-old Daniel Bradley. Foster made his first appearance Friday afternoon and bail was set at $1 million.

Just after midnight on Sept. 2, Minneapolis firefighters responded to smoke coming from a house at 2633 13th Ave. S. and put out a fire in the kitchen in the rear of the house. Bradley was found dead in the front of the house from more than 100 blunt force and sharp weapon injuries, including a cut to his carotid artery, according to the complaint.

Police found blood on the back door of the house and in the back yard a butcher knife with blood on it. They followed a blood trail through a neighbor’s yard and on a picket fence as though someone grabbed it to jump over, the complaint states. Both DNA testing and a bloody fingerprint matched to Foster.

With that identification on Sept. 6, police began looking for Foster. They learned St. Paul Police also were looking for Foster because he left his Ford pickup truck near a boat launch in Hidden Falls Park on Sept. 2. Inside the truck was blood and another bloody knife, according to the complaint.

On Wednesday, police received a tip he was going to check into Twin Town treatment facility in St. Paul and they arrested him. Foster admitted he knew Bradley, but declined to say anything more, the complaint states.

Foster Criminal Complaint (PDF)