MN Man Sentenced For Horrific Attacks on Woman & Young Child

Mankato, MN (KROC-AM News) - A man with a history of violent crimes was sentenced today for stabbing a woman dozens of times and terrorizing a young child last year in southern Minnesota.

35-year-old Dustin Lee Murilla was arrested in May of last year after he led law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase in the Mankato area. Court records indicated the chase began after it was reported that he was seen driving on a sidewalk and using meth, which was followed by other citizen reports about his driving behavior.

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The criminal complaint in the case says the pursuing officers eventually stopped the Good Thunder man by ramming the squad car into the vehicle he was driving, which flipped over onto its side.

According to the court document, the stabbing victim emerged from the crashed vehicle as officers were approaching with weapons drawn. The officers indicated she was covered in blood and collapsed while walking toward them.

The charges stated that she told the officers that Murilla had slit her throat and that her injuries occurred after the crash. She was rushed to a hospital in critical condition and the doctors treating her told investigators that she had suffered 36 stab wounds and described six of the wounds as life-threatening.

Murilla was also accused of an attack on an 11-year-old child that occurred a day before the police chase. The young victim told investigators with the Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office that Murilla had tied her up, stuffed a sock into her mouth, and tied a sheet around her head that covered her mouth and prevented her from screaming.

The girl told investigators that Murilla also threatened her with a knife, saying he was going to force her mother to decide what to cut off first, and told her that he would kill her and her family if she told anyone.

Court records indicate both crimes occurred while Murilla was on supervised release for a 2013 attempted murder conviction that resulted in a 183 month prison sentence.

Murilla faced a long list of charges that included first and second-degree murder, kidnapping, multiple counts of felony assault, threats of violence, and fleeing police. In August, he entered into a plea agreement and admitted to a first-degree attempted murder charge for stabbing the woman and the felony threats of violence charge for terrorizing the young girl.

He was sentenced today to 20 years in prison. Murilla is already an inmate at the Oak Park Heights State Prison, where he is serving the remainder of his sentence for the 2013 attempted murder conviction.

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