St. Louis County man sentenced in Duluth stabbing, arson killing

Tyler Walter Edwards was sentenced in St. Louis County District Court after pleading guilty to second-degree unintentional murder in the killing of 25-year-old Maxton Keith Gudowski, a case that exposed a brutal attack inside a Duluth home and raised hard questions about how the county handled the months-long investigation. The crime happened July 25, 2024, in a residence on North 47th Avenue East in the Lakeside neighborhood, near Glensheen Mansion and Highway 61.

Investigators said Gudowski was stabbed more than 30 times before the apartment and his body were set on fire. Court filings said accelerants were found at the scene, and authorities later tied the blaze to Pine-Sol, fruit-punch-flavored liquor and a heated blanket used as an ignition source. Prosecutors also said Edwards bought 20 50ml liquor bottles shortly before the fire, then gave police a false name before his identity was established through DNA evidence and surveillance footage.

Edwards was arrested Sept. 1, 2024, but was not formally charged until April 23, 2025. He had been facing up to 40 years in prison under Minnesota’s second-degree unintentional murder statute. His guilty plea came April 21, 2026, and sentencing was set for June 15, 2026.

County Attorney Kim Maki said the plea brought “a measure of justice and certainty” for Gudowski’s family and the broader community, even though it could not undo the loss. For neighbors in Lakeside, the case ended with a formal conviction, but the violence that unfolded in the home on North 47th Avenue East left a lasting mark on public confidence in the system meant to answer it.

Gudowski’s family has described him as a young man who loved bird-watching, hiking, fishing and camping in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, along with drives on the North Shore. He graduated from Superior High School in 2018, a detail that underscored how far-reaching the loss was for relatives, friends and the communities on both sides of the St. Louis County line.