McDowell

A Redmond man is scheduled to appear in court Friday to enter a plea on a charge of attempted murder after allegedly hitting a man over the head with a Bowie knife during a disagreement over borrowed money.

Willie Dean McDowell, 54, is charged with one count each of attempted murder and second-degree assault, as well as two counts of first-degree attempted kidnapping. McDowell was under state supervision at the time of the alleged crimes.

He also faces a separate charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He is due to enter a plea in both cases on Friday. He was being held Monday in the Deschutes County jail. An attorney from the Bend Attorney Group, which represents McDowell, did not return a call for comment Monday.

According to two search warrant affidavits, a Redmond police officer went to the emergency room at St. Charles Redmond on May 8. There, he met 24-year-old Mickey Witt, who told the officer that McDowell, who allegedly also goes by the name “Monster,” had hit him in the head with an 18-inch knife. Witt had suffered a cut to the head and a skull fracture.

Witt told the officer he had gone to a home on SW Fourth Street in Redmond to settle a $150 debt he owed, and when he walked into the garage, McDowell came out from behind a bed sheet hanging as a curtain and the garage door shut behind him.

According to one of the search warrant affidavits, Witt told police McDowell was wearing latex gloves and told Witt to sit in a chair that had handcuffs on it. Witt refused. He also refused to pay McDowell, according to the search warrant affidavit, because McDowell owed him money as well.

“(Witt) told me (McDowell) stated he had killed people in the past for money, and would kill him for free,” the affidavit states. McDowell then allegedly ordered another man to leave the garage to get Witt’s wallet and anything else of value from a car. McDowell then allegedly struck Witt on the head with the butt of the knife.

“(Witt) told me he stood up and told (McDowell), ‘Is that all you got?’ (Witt) told me making this statement was a mistake as (McDowell) struck him in the head a second time with the knife and he again fell to the ground,” the affidavit states.

He told police McDowell was shouting that he would kill Witt, and Witt “was certain” he would be killed. He allegedly rolled himself to the garage door, which was slightly ajar, and escaped.

McDowell is also alleged to have stolen a .22-caliber rifle from an acquaintance who he had also asked for money in order to leave the state after the alleged assault on Witt.

When officers went to McDowell’s apartment to talk to him about the incident, he allegedly told police he hadn’t attacked Witt, but was “at odds with a prison gang called the ‘Brood,’” according to the affidavit. The gang was trying to get him in trouble so he’d have to go back to prison and be killed, he allegedly told police.

A search of McDowell’s home found a number of knives, including one allegedly found under his mattress that matched the description of the Bowie knife used in the assault on Witt.

According to state records, McDowell has been convicted of more than a dozen crimes in the past 13 years, including burglary, criminal trespass, assault, harassment, and possession of methamphetamine.