Police Chief: Man Was Attacked Before Fatal Stabbing

Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken says the incident is under an open investigation.

DULUTH, Minn.- New details in the weekend stabbing death of a man in Duluth’s Central Hillside neighborhood.

Police Chief Mike Tusken is calling the case a homicide investigation. This, as the stabber claims he was attacked and acted in self-defense.

The violence broke out near East 5th St. and 1st Ave. around six Sunday evening.

Police tell us the man responsible for the stabbing resorted swinging a knife at 38-year-old Dale Harrison Bedell after Bedell tackled him to the ground and repeatedly punched him. Bedell later died at a hospital.

A motive is not clear, but investigators believe no drugs were involved.

Chief Tusken tells us it’s believed the two did not know each other and that it’s up to the county attorney’s office to determine if the homicide was justified as self-defense.

“We don’t do investigations with a pre–determined outcome. We do investigations where we let the facts be evaluated by, of course, the county attorney’s office based on the merits of those facts. We don’t start an investigation with a pre–determined outcome,” chief Tusken said to the press.

Police tell us the man responsible for the stabbing has injuries consistent with an assault. His name has not been release at this time and is not in police custody but is not considered a threat to the public.