Defendant in 2019 Minneapolis murder testifies about chaotic fight with drug dealer

A 67-year-old man charged with using a power drill, a crotchet hook, butcher knife and jumper cables to kill a man testified Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court that he, too, was a victim in the case.

Larry Foster, who is charged with second-degree murder in the 2019 killing of Daniel M. Bradley, 60, was on the stand for more than two hours explaining that he knew the victim as a fellow crack user. He said he also knew the drug dealer who actually killed Bradley, whose body was found in a burning house in Minneapolis.

Foster, a one-time welder at the now shuttered Ford plant in St. Paul, said he had been addicted to drugs and alcohol for most of his adult life. The day before Bradley was killed, he said he had given a ride to the man he identified as the killer hoping he could score "dope" from him.

"It was the end of the month so I was down to my last $20," Foster said when questioned by his attorney, Jordan Deckenbach.

Foster said he and Bradley were smoking crack when the dealer showed up and accused the two of smoking his drugs. He said the dealer and Bradley went upstairs. Shortly thereafter, the victim yelled and tumbled down the stairs, Foster said.

"I went over to try to help him up," Foster said, adding that the dealer was tearing stuff up and yelling. Foster said he struggled with the killer and ended up with a gash across the palm of his hand before fleeing in his truck to Hidden Falls on the Mississippi River.

Eventually, Foster said, he made his way to the hospital and told them he cut his palm trying to commit suicide. He required 24 stitches.

Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Kali Gardner asked Foster to detail how Bradley fell and how he had escaped the bloody scene. Gardner questioned him about different versions of the events he's given in earlier statements and about how he got cut.

Foster said, "I don't remember exactly. All I know is I got cut by a knife."

The trial is in its third week. The man who Foster says killed Bradley has invoked his constitutional right not to testify and won't speak at the trial.