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Jefferson County man charged after neighbor dies following assault

Dale Edwards was charged with second-degree murder after his neighbor, Michael Huffman, died from his injuries sustained during an assault

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. — A 75-year-old man from Festus has been charged in connection with his neighbor's death.

The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Dale Edwards with second-degree murder after his neighbor, Michael Huffman, died from his injuries sustained during an assault.

On Sept. 18, Edwards was originally charged with one count of first-degree assault and armed criminal in the incident. 

According to the probable cause statement, on Sept. 17, Huffman told police he was assaulted by Edwards. He said he confronted Edwards near their residences and asked him why he was photographing his home. That's when the two began to argue and Edwards hit Huffman with his walking stick and then hit him in the head with a metal pipe. 

Huffman told police Edwards hit him about 20 times while he was on the ground. Huffman was taken to a hospital after the assault and moved to the intensive care unit. 

On Oct. 3, police were notified that Huffman died. According to the medical examiner, due to Huffman's extensive cardiac history, the stress of the assault triggered him to go into cardiac arrest, which resulted in his death.   

On the day of the assault, another neighbor said Edwards was cursing at her and threatened to "do to her what he did to Huffman."

According to the probable cause statement, on Oct. 9, police interviewed Edwards. He said Huffman was the "aggressor" and he was assaulted by him. He originally told police at no point during the assault did he ever strike Huffman in self defense, before later recanting his statement and admitting to striking him with a closed fist. Edwards never admitted to using any objects to strike Huffman and he admitted he wasn't injured during the incident. 

The probable cause statement also said Edwards has a history of violent threats and actions to his neighbors and is not believed to have a stable mental status. He also threatened other neighbors with weapons, the documents said. 

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