MINNEAPOLIS — The suspect in November's seemingly random, deadly stabbing at an Edina Bus stop was back in court Monday. That, as KARE 11 News obtained video of a prior random attack.
Adam Garcia asked the judge for a speedy trial on charges that he murdered Chris Lundegaard the night before Thanksgiving.
But judge Peter Cahill told Garcia, who has a long history of mental health issues, that he will first need to be evaluated to see if he's competent to stand trial.
Police and the family of 62-year-old Chris Lundegaard believe the attack that left him dead at an Edina bus stop near Fairview Southdale Hospital in November was completely random and unprovoked.
Thirty-two-year-old Adam Garcia is charged with murder, with surveillance video capturing some of the attack and a knife found in a nearby gutter, according to the criminal complaint.
Surveillance video from 2019, which was recently obtained by KARE 11 through a data practices request, shows a separate random attack by Adam Garcia.
At the medical library in Diehl Hall at the University of Minnesota, a student who was trying to study noticed Garcia stalking him.
After the student went to talk to staffers at the library, Garcia followed him -- then jabbed him in the leg with a hypodermic needle -- and casually walked out of the building.
Cameras followed Garcia as he left the campus classroom and police finally arrested him near the light rail platform on Washington Avenue.
But during the arrest, one officer was poked multiple times by a large knife Garcia pulled as he, himself bled. The criminal complaint said that since Garcia is Hepatitis C-positive, the officer and the student both needed to be treated and monitored for exposure.
Garcia was convicted in that case and temporarily civilly committed for "methamphetamine-induced psychotic disorder," among other mental and chemical dependency disorders.
In an earlier interview, Chris Lundegaard's family said they were disappointed the disturbing 2019 case didn't raise enough flags to prevent Garcia from allegedly killing their loved one.
"I think it's a shame that he didn't apparently get any help," Bob Lundegaard said. "And I question whether not enough attention was paid at that time to make sure he was not going to do this again."
The court-ordered mental evaluation will determine if Garcia is competent to stand trial. If not, the case would grind to a temporary halt while he's treated.
Garcia has been acting differently than a typical murder suspect at his hearings, walking in and nodding and waving at the people there watching, including the victim's family.
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