Charges: Man gagged child & threatened to disfigure her with knife

A former Good Thunder man is accused of gagging and threatening to disfigure a child with a knife.

Dustin Lee Murilla, 34, was charged Thursday in Blue Earth County Court with felony counts of 2nd-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, kidnapping, and threats of violence.

A criminal complaint says Murilla instructed the 11-year-old daughter of his girlfriend to go in his bedroom and sit on the chair when she returned home from school on a May afternoon.

Murilla allegedly gagged the girl with a sock and began cutting up a sheet, which he tied around her head to prevent her from screaming.

According to the complaint, Murilla grabbed a knife and told the girl he would let her mother pick if he would first cut off the girl’s fingers, and toes, or carve out her eyeballs.  Court documents say he threatened to kill the girl’s family if she told anyone.  The girl told investigators Murilla was trying to tie up her hands, but she kept moving to prevent it.

The incident occurred over the course of about two hours, according to the complaint, and ended when Murilla and the girl’s mother had a conversation.

The victim’s brother heard Murilla say: “What should I cut off first,” and confirmed that his sister had been ordered to go to Murilla’s room, according to court documents.

Police say the bedsheet used to silence the girl and the kitchen knife he used to threaten her were found in Murilla’s room when a search warrant was performed.

A relative reported the incident to Starbuck police, who notified the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office.

Murilla was charged with attempted murder and more in June after a pursuit with police led to the discovery of a woman with critical stab wounds in his vehicle.  Prosecutors are seeking an aggravated sentence in that case, citing Murilla’s lengthy and violent criminal history.

He was previously convicted of attempted murder in a 2012 court case.  He also has an assault with a dangerous weapon conviction out of Brown County from a 2009 charge, according to the complaint.

Murilla is currently incarcerated at the Oak Park Heights Correctional Facility.