Man Charged With Murder, Arson After 2024 Fatal Duluth Fire

DULUTH, Minn. — Nearly a year after a man was found stabbed to death in a suspicious fire in Duluth, a suspect is now charged with murder and arson.

Tyler Walter Edwards, 25, of Illinois, who was convicted of rape in Hennepin County in early 2024, is charged with second-degree murder and first-degree arson. 

The charges are connected to the death of 25-year-old Maxton Gudowski who was found dead after a fire in his apartment in Lakeside last July.

Edwards was arrested last year by Duluth police in connection with the death, but he was released days later after the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office failed to file formal charges as that time because the office was still waiting on critical pieces of evidence.

But even after being released, Edwards was arrested again in Superior where police accused him of breaking into a home and running from police as they responded.

The latest criminal complaint in the murder and arson investigation said Edwards stabbed the victim in the neck more than 30 times before lighting the victim’s body on fire.