The day his jury trial was scheduled to begin, an Austin man charged with attempted first-degree murder entered into a plea agreement in Mower County District Court.

Isaiah Kalub Newberry, 23, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in exchange for the dismissal of two other charges: attempted premeditated first-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder.

According to a court complaint, police were dispatched to the Target parking lot around 10 p.m. July 14 on a report of a stabbing. When they arrived, Dean Allan Thordor, 37, of Austin, was bleeding extensively from stab wounds in his stomach area. Thordor was taken by ambulance to Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin and later transported to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester for surgery.

According to a court complaint, witnesses brought Thordor to the parking lot after he was stabbed near the bridge on 43rd St. NW. A witness told police Newberry had called a friend of Thordor’s and said he knew Thordor “from back in the day” and wanted to meet him by the “420 Bridge.”

Thordor and a few friends went to the bridge and when Newberry arrived, he and Thordor got out of their vehicles and began talking. Witnesses told police they talked “like nothing was wrong.”

According to a court complaint, the two men walked out of sight behind Newberry’s truck. Seconds later, Thordor began yelling that he had been stabbed. One witness said he heard Newberry stab Thordor several times.

One of Thordor’s friends grabbed the keys out of Newberry’s truck to prevent him from leaving, at which point Newberry left on foot, court documents said.

When Chief Deputy Mark May questioned Newberry after his arrest, he said his truck had been stolen the night before. He then requested a lawyer be present for further questioning and did not provide any other information.

Newberry is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 20.