Twin Cities man with murder, sex assault convictions found with woman near death in his bathtub

A St. Paul man with previous convictions for murder, sexual assault and kidnapping is being held on $200,000 bail after he was found this month with a beaten, bloodied woman unresponsive in his bathtub.

Anthony DeWalt, 60, was charged with first-degree assault causing great bodily harm and second-degree sexual assault on Friday in Ramsey County.

At the time of his arrest, he was under intensive supervised release, according to the Minnesota Department of Corrections, and required to meet with his parole officer four times weekly, along with other restrictions.

That supervision stemmed from a sexual assault and kidnapping conviction in 2005 after a jury trial in Wright County. DeWalt was found guilty of several crimes for viciously dragging a woman by her mouth to the edge of a wooded area near a home and raping her. He fought a man who tried to stop the assault and held scissors to the woman’s neck until police arrived.

Wright County sought aggravated sentencing in the case, and District Judge Dale Mossey gave DeWalt life in prison.

But the state Court of Appeals reversed Mossey’s decision, ruling the court didn’t have the authority to hand down a life sentence without convening a grand jury. DeWalt was then sentenced to 12 years in prison.

While behind bars, he was convicted twice for assault of a corrections employee and once for fraud after sending his SNAP benefits card from prison to his sister in Illinois.

His criminal history stretches back decades. In 1986, DeWalt was sentenced to 30 years in prison in Illinois for shooting his girlfriend five times in the head and chest, and dumping a car containing her body into a lake.

Messages were left with the Illinois Department of Corrections seeking information on DeWalt’s release.

According to the current charges:

A parole officer was conducting an unannounced check on DeWalt’s home this month when DeWalt opened the door naked and with blood on his chest. There appeared to be another person in the apartment, which was a violation of DeWalt’s parole. DeWalt said they were in the bathtub.

The officer saw a pipe used to smoke methamphetamine on a couch near the bathroom and a bloody knife on the bed. He had DeWalt open the bathroom door and inside found a woman in the tub. She was naked and unresponsive, and had a severe bite wound to her breast. The water was cold and running.

The officers broke down the door to find DeWalt with his arms raised, ready to fight. They “secured” DeWalt.

The woman was given naloxone, which is used to reverse a drug overdose, and taken to a hospital, where she eventually regained consciousness.

She had extensive bruising across her body but no recollection of what had happened to her.

When investigators spoke with DeWalt at his home, he said the woman was a “friend who stopped by” from time to time to help him cook and clean. He said they did not have sex and he found her in the bathtub groggy and unresponsive after she had asked to use the bathroom. He said he used cold water to try to revive her.

An arrest warrant was issued; his home was searched, and he submitted a sexual assault examination that was submitted to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Results are pending.

Two clear baggies that tested positive for fentanyl and cocaine were also found.