Burnsville man charged in brutal stabbing of man found dead in burning Minneapolis house

The victim, Daniel M. Bradley, suffered more than 100 blunt-force and sharp-force injuries.

September 14, 2019 at 1:47AM

A Burnsville man was charged Friday in the murder of a Minneapolis man found earlier this month in a burning house.

Larry J. Foster, 66, was charged Friday in Hennepin County District Court with one count of second-degree murder with intent for the death of Daniel M. Bradley.

Bradley, 60, was found about 12:08 a.m. on Sept. 2 in the 2600 block of S. 13th Avenue. Police and fire had been called to the address for a house fire, and found his body inside.

Bradley's throat had been cut, and he suffered more than 100 blunt-force and sharp-force injuries, the charges said.

The charges did not specify a possible motive for the killing, but said the men knew each other.

According to the complaint: Authorities investigating the fire found a couch inside had been flipped over and that a chair and coffee table had been broken. The fire was contained to the kitchen and appeared to have originated from the stove. The fire did not appear to impact Bradley's body.

Police saw "obvious homicidal injuries" on Bradley's body, including a slit throat, several stab wounds, several "deep lacerations" on his head and a piece of metal protruding from his chest.

Defensive injuries were discovered on his hands, and it appeared as if he had been attacked with multiple weapons, the complaint said. A final autopsy is pending.

A large amount of blood was discovered inside the house. More blood was discovered outside trailing in the backyard and leading to a nearby house and fence.

DNA recovered from the scene was allegedly traced to Foster, who has a criminal record.

Police learned of Foster's connection to the case on Sept. 6, and in looking for him, discovered that he was the subject of a missing persons case in St. Paul, the complaint said.

Someone had reported that Foster's truck was abandoned in St. Paul's Hidden Regional Falls. When St. Paul police investigated, they found "a significant amount" of blood inside the truck along with a bloody knife and shirt, the complaint said.

Surveillance footage recovered from near Bradley's home allegedly captured images of Foster's truck driving by the address on Sept. 1 at 9:22 p.m. and then a second time at 9:27 p.m., the complaint said. Foster allegedly parked the second time near where the blood trail was later found.

Police located Foster at the Twin Town treatment facility. He allegedly told them he knew Bradley, identified his truck from photos taken from the surveillance video and then declined to answer additional questions, the complaint said. Police saw dried blood on Foster's watch and collected it for testing.

Foster is in custody on $1 million bail.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708 Twitter: @ChaoStrib

about the writer

about the writer

Chao Xiong

Reporter

Chao Xiong was the Hennepin County Courts reporter for the Star Tribune. He previously covered Ramsey County courts, St. Paul police, the state of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis.

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