Law&Crime Sidebar - 5 Disturbing Details of Co-Worker's Sledgehammer Attack

Episode Date: November 26, 2025

The man accused of brutally murdering young welder Amber Czech could face upgraded charges. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber and Minnesota trial attorney Paul Applebaum are taking a closer look at the latest from a Minnesota courtroom, including the court-ordered mental health evaluation for her coworker and alleged killer, David Delong.GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/amber-czech PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Grow your own audience today – go to https://www.opus.pro/sidebar and get 65% off an annual Opus Pro plan for the month of November. HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger, Christina O'Shea, Alex Ciccarone, & Jay CruzScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Trades people from all over the country are coming together to remember Amber Chek, who was killed in an absolutely brutal attack at her workplace. This is not on just one individual. This is the entire working culture of men in blue collar that has failed women like Amber Jek. Now the man accused of smashing the young welders head in with a sledgehammer could face upgraded charges. We are taking a closer look at the latest from a Minnesota courtroom as Amber's family prepares for a holiday season without her.

Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. By the way, if you're in the content creation game, okay, you're putting things up in social media, let me tell you about something real quick. If you're wondering how we're able to get so many clips out there so quickly, here's a secret. something called Opus Clip, okay? This is an all-in-one AI editor that makes it so easy to cut, create, and upload videos across any platform. Through AI, OpusClip generates B-roll, it reframes footage, and even cleans up audio. It is so simple to use. You just visit opus.pro slash sidebar. You sign up, you upload, and in minutes, you have perfectly edited clips ready to go. For TikTok, shorts, reels, Opus Clip is your one-stop shop. And having a tool like Opus Clip means that

our producers can get you viral courtroom updates instantly. This is the most powerful tool there is to help you share ideas and edit like a pro. So go to opus.combe pro slash sidebar to create your videos today. And for November only, you can get 65% off of an annual plan. The people of Cokato, Minnesota, are still trying to come to grips with just an absolutely shocking display of workplace violence. But Amber Check's story has spread far beyond this small city. 20-year-old Amber was working her shift at Advanced Process Technologies APT in the early morning hours of November 11th, when her co-year-old. worker, a man twice her age named David DeLong allegedly walked over to her workstation and hit her in the head with a sledgehammer. According to Wright County Attorney Brian Lute's

surveillance video from inside that manufacturing plant caught DeLong approaching Amber, picking up the sledgehammer before he started swinging. Now the actual attack took place off camera, but Lute says it is clear what happened. In fact, a criminal complaint that was filed against the Long reads, quote, The defendant is wearing gloves when this occurs. The defendant is observed grabbing a sledgehammer from the victim's workstation. The video shows the defendant swinging the sledgehammer at the victim who is out of the view of the camera. The defendant's first swing of the sledgehammer is in a horizontal movement consistent with the victim standing. How often do you have an alleged attack and alleged murder caught on tape?

Because that is what prosecutors purportedly have here. Now, the complaint alleges that after this seemingly unprovoked attack, DeLong walked by another male co-worker and said something along the lines of, quote, I hit her with your hammer. She is by your toolbox. She is gone, leaving this other man to stumble upon this gruesome scene. First responders, they were at the plant within minutes, but it was too late. Amber was gone, a victim of apparent workplace violence. Okay, I want to talk about the legal situation and how it could change, because DeLong currently faces a charge of second-degree murder, but county authorities say that could now be upgraded to first-degree murder.

to first-degree murder once the case goes to a grand jury next month. Talking life in prison, by the way, if that's the case. Plus, serious potentially mental health issues that are in play here, maybe. We'll talk about that. And what this could mean for the case as well, by the way, how Amber's death has impacted people all over this country. I want to welcome on right now, Minnesota trial attorney Paul Applebaum. Paul, thank you so much for taking the time. You know, this is a case that has rocked Minnesota and beyond.

what are the conversations that you've seen maybe that sparked among lawyers, other members of the justice system? Are people talking about this case? Because it's pretty shocking. Yeah, it's the brutality. And the fact that this was at a workplace, I think, just amplifies the shock that people have over this case. And she's a young woman in a male-dominated field, which I think most people assume that she doesn't have an easy path as far as her career goes. So all of those things really are tied together where people are just flummoxed by the whole situation and wonder, what does the future hold for this guy in terms of his legal status, for lack of a better phrase? Let's talk about that. So he was in court on Monday,

November 26. His attorney requested mental health and competency evaluation. This is according to Minnesota Public Radio. And a Wright County judge agreed, agreed that the assessment needed to be done. Now, Paul, talk to me about this. Talk to me about how these competency evaluation. happen in Minnesota? Who is the one meeting with DeLong? What are the questions? What is the analysis? So the judge will appoint an investigator to gather the facts and speak with him, gather all the police reports, and anything else that might be relevant to Rule 20 assessment for the judge. The defendant has the right to hire his own. It sounds to me like he doesn't have the resources to do that, so it'll just be the judge's evaluator. He'll remain in custody. He may be

transfer to another facility to make it easier to meet with him in a secure place so the assessor is not concerned for his own safety. And the two questions that they're going to have is, number one, does he understand the process that he's involved with now? Can he participate in his own defense? Can he talk to his lawyers? Does he have the ability to articulate the way he wants to see the case proceed? Just generally participate as a normal defendant would. Then the other question that they're going to delve into is, what was his mental state at the time that this happened. And I think that obviously he was deranged, but that's not the end of the inquiry. What they have to find out is, did he understand the nature of his actions? And the

classic example in law school is an individual strangles another person, and he tells the police that show up, oh, I thought I was wringing out a washcloth or a towel instead of strangling. And so I didn't understand the nature of what I was doing. There are two different stages was sort of the same questions that are asked. Does he know what's happening? Does he know what's going on. And the second one is, at the time of the offense, did he know the nature of his behavior? I want to break this down a little bit. What would have precipitated his attorney to petition for a competency evaluation and for a judge to agree? Was there some sort of signs that he was exhibiting? Is there something that he's doing or saying where they believe there might be an issue

that he doesn't understand the legal process? He can't contribute to his defense in some way. He doesn't understand what's happening. Or is this more standard? Is this more standard in a very brutal graphic alleged crime for there to be a competency evaluation or you think there's something else going on? No, I think you hit it on the head for those two points. Is there something that he's saying now that concerns the defense attorney in order to bring it to the judge's attention and then just the raw facts of the offense? So I think it's a no-brainer in terms of having him assessed. I don't think it took a lot of work for the lawyer to come up with this. We don't want to call it a strategy, but to come up with this move because it would be almost incompetent for the

lawyer not to ask for this to be done. What if, for some reason, the long decides, I'm not cooperating with this competency evaluation. You ever see anything like that? What happens? Oh, yeah. So, you know, most of my assessments like this have come up in federal court, believe it or not. There's so much mental health and criminal cases now that it never was before. But anyhow, if he decides he's not going to participate, that doesn't stop the inquiry. That just means they try to work around it and gather all the information they can from prior episodes, as medical records, talk to family and friends. But they'll continue with the process.

That doesn't mean that he can hide behind his silence. You mentioned it before. You were saying that under Minnesota law, there is an insanity defense, right? That is a possibility. I wonder, and you said that, you know, they might be inventing. investigating the beginning stages of that to see what his mental state was at the time. But if you take it, the idea, the reporting that, you know, he told law enforcement, allegedly told law enforcement that he didn't like her, that he was planning to do this,

that after allegedly using a sledgehammer to bludgeon her to death, he tells a co-worker, somebody nearby that he basically did it, does that acknowledge that he does recognize what he did? Or is that the end of the inquiry right there? In my mind, I mean, he's entitled to due process and presumption of innocence and all those things, but those facts are devastating for an insanity defense. It does show premeditation. I know it hasn't been indicted on a first degree murder charge, but it's the only thing the lawyer has to work with, but I think it's a non-starter, insanity defense.

There's only 1% of criminal cases that assert an insanity defense, and I think 25% of those 1% are successful. The rest are unsuccessful. So it's a tough road to ho. Well, something that has gotten a lot of attention in the aftermath of that. this is that the long is facing a second-degree murder charge, despite allegedly confessing to investigators that he had killed Amber. And I looked it up, second-degree, and it says, whoever does either of the following is guilty of murder in the second degree, and may be sentenced

to imprisonment for not more than 40 years, causes the death of a human being with intent to affect the death of that person or another, but without premeditation. And there's another part, but doesn't concern the facts of this case. And again, the long reportedly told police that he didn't like Amber, planned to kill her. Wright County attorney, Brian Lutz said that a grand jury will consider whether DeLong's charges should be upgraded to first degree. They're expected to convene in December. Paul, looks like first degree, no?

Yeah, he's in a box here. And I think that sometimes prosecutors threaten to convene a grand jury and, you know, take a look at first degree murder in order to move the process along and get a plea to a second degree murder. So he may just be doing this to get the defendant's intention and get the attorney's his attention. Or he may genuinely believe that a first degree murder charge better fits the evidence in this case. I think it does fit the evidence in this case, I think, but that may not be the way it plays out, because there are so many factors that go into working out a plea deal. Number one,

the threat of first degree murder charges down the road, trying to avoid a trial so the family doesn't have to go through this whole spectacle. So just may be a way to incentivize everybody to resolve this case, which would be the first degree murder, because you're going away for life without parole if you get convicted on first degree murder. And by the way, two things about this. One, if this was to be a first degree murder case and it goes to trial, would the jury have the option of finding him guilty of the lesser degree of second degree? So would it be either first degree, not guilty?

And if he's not guilty, that's it. That's the end of inquiry. Or can they also consider second degree as an underlying offense? They'll have the lesser included second degree. Okay. Most prosecutors as a safety net, you know, they have to convince everybody beyond a reasonable doubt. It's got to be unanimous. And you may have people on the jury outliers that just don't see a first degree murder.

And if you don't have that safety net of second degree, you're going to get a hung jury and have to do this all over again. So I would be really surprised if they dismissed the second to be murdered, you know, after he's indicted. And my understanding is this has to go in front of a grand jury that under Minnesota law, if you want to indict somebody for first. first-degree premeditated murder has to go in front of a grand jury? Yes, that's correct. You can't, in Minnesota, we don't have preliminary hearings and things like that. The prosecutor themselves draft the charges, and then a judge can later review the complaint for probable cause. We don't have a lot of those preliminary proceedings, but first-degree murder,

you have to go back to sort of the old-fashioned method, which is convene a grand jury, present the evidence, get a true bill on the indictment, or don't get a true bill, and then the person is charged. different episode, I know you were speaking about why wasn't he charged right out of the gate with first degree murder after an indictment. What a prosecutor has to do is find a hook to keep the person in jail until he can convene the grand jury. So they charge him with second degree murder, which is only by complaint, which is a much more expedited process. The defendant is confined in jail while they convene the first degree. It's just a way to keeping him out of the community while this runs this course, the first-degree murder indictment.

That's, no, I'm glad you mentioned that. I appreciate that. Now that makes sense. Now that makes sense. And to be clear, to go to in front of a grand jury, does the defense have any role in that whatsoever, or are they just waiting to see what happens? That's exactly right. You, you, as a defense lawyer I've had, mostly in federal court, because that's where

the grand juries generally are convened in Minnesota, the defense lawyer will have zero role in what happens in the court. a grand jury. They may actually send a letter to the defense attorney saying if your client wants to testify in front of the grand jury, he's welcome to come and testify. No lawyer worth his salt would ever let his client testify in front of a grand jury. So it's a one-sided affair. And real quick, before I talk a little bit more about Amber, what is another potential defense here, if it's not mental health? Is it trying any which way to make sure that surveillance video doesn't come in? Is it questioning the credibility of?

who the defendant allegedly confessed to feels like a challenge, but are those avenues just striking at the admissibility of that evidence, the reliability of that evidence? So the statements he made to coworkers absolutely are coming in. He doesn't need, obviously, to be Mirandized before he's questioned by a coworker or speaks with a coworker, so that's not an objection to getting his statements into evidence. the video, as long as somebody that's familiar with the security camera devices, can come in and lay a foundation for the video. From what I've read, you can't see him actually striking her. But what else is the man doing while he's swinging the sledgehammer at this off-screen target?

And all those things working together, and I've been in a situation many times before where I have no defense. But I don't have a client who will plead guilty or I'm not getting any offers to settle the case. Sometimes you just go forward and you know you're just going to get a defense. slammed, but that's your job. You go in there and do the best you can, but I don't see any legitimate plays that the defense attorney can make in terms of guilt and, you know, guilty and not guilty in the conventional sense. I want to go back to Amber for a minute. So there are many posts from content creators on Instagram and TikTok that alleged that Amber went to human resources five times about alleged harassment or misconduct on DeLong's part. This detail can apparently be traced

back to a comment on a Reddit thread, but to be clear, it hasn't been confirmed by any official authorities. Now, Paul, aside from the idea about whether there's misinformation or exaggerated details that can spread like wildfire online or on social media, if that is true, if that is true that she did file complaints against him, how does that affect the case? What does that tell you? Well, it ties into the identity of the perpetrator, which is already clearly established, but it's one more brick in the wall as far as who did this. In terms of a civil lawsuit for negligent hiring or failure to protect her at work, there could very well be a civil lawsuit against the company for not taking action to fire him.

And if there's enough of a paper trail, if there's enough of proof of it prior complaints that she really was afraid for her safety, the company may be on the hook. And I have a feeling they have insurance for all that. But, you know, that's another component of this whole thing. And by the way, what kind of impact could all the attention on this case have? I mean, people are following. People are invested in this. I'll get a little bit more about what we're seeing on social media.

But the first thought that I had is could it be tough to get a fair and impartial jury in this kind of case? Yeah, that's a good point. I hadn't thought about that. they'll for sure move to they'll make a motion to move the trial to another county where there isn't as much media attention and try to get a jury that that can set aside whatever they know about the case and listen to the evidence with no preconceived biases or anything like that i think that would probably the first thing they're going to try to do that's not always the easiest thing in the world to do though a lot of judges a lot of times it's for practical reasons like they don't want to have to go sit in a trial a month away of a month long away from their own home, so they're reluctant to do it. And it's just a huge undertaking to move a trial. I've tried to do it many times. I can think of one time where I got a trial move because of pretrial publicity. But that's an important aspect that I hadn't considered before we began this conversation. Huge, huge issue for the defense attorneys. Let me be clear. There is so much discussion

about this. So whether she had reported DeLong to HR or not, you have advocacy groups, you have unions that are crying foul. They're saying that there was more that could have been done to protect her. According to stats that were cited by the Independent News Organization 19th News, women made up just about 6% of welders in the country. And because of that low representation, they say women often can be the targets of harassment or humiliation. Angie Cassay, a carpenter from North Carolina, told the outlet that she's been working to encourage a young woman to go into the trades. But this incident kind of makes her hesitant, quote, she did everything that we want these girls to do. She did a high school welding program.

She went to a community college. It's just a sharp reminder that there's just a lot of work to do in figuring out how to better advocate and make sure that these young women are safe. And a co-chair for the Trades Women Task Force and Equal Rights Advocates told 19th News that part of their advocacy work includes making sure women know how to properly file the complaints or lawsuits against individuals or employers. You have Janelle Dejan who told the outlet that a lot of times workers aren't even aware of the right channel to use, and they often fear retaliation. Now, Paul, we know knowing your rights

and the workplace is so important. This is talking about something above and beyond. Yes. I think, yeah, you can fill out the paperwork and you can wait for a decision by the company, and I suppose you could contact the Minnesota AG's office that can investigate human rights violations. But we all know from a practical standpoint that that's not the end of the situation. There could be retaliation by coworkers, comments, harassment, messing with your property, messing with your equipment. I mean, I think it takes an enormous amount of guts for a woman to walk into that male-dominated environment and try to build a career. So I think it's just, it's sickening with people, how they bully and harass somebody who

may not be able to protect themselves because they're a minority at a company. You know, I doubt that there was another female welder at this company. So she was standing alone on this whole thing. and her coworkers may or may not be sympathetic to her situation. And, you know, there's a boys-will-be-boys attitude, particularly in the trades. And that just compounds the tragedy that she's kind of a trailblazer, right? And she's doing what's a very difficult job physically. I am assuming that she's smaller than your average mail welder.

And so the job was demanding in that regard, and then to have to take off of people. Sorry to use a vulgarity, but to have to be hassled by coworkers. Or coworkers that knew that this was going on and didn't take. the long aside and say, listen, man, this isn't going to fly here. You cut that out. And be an ally for her. It's just so disturbing, you know. She's a young gal. It's horrible. It's horrible. And let me leave everybody with this. Okay. So the Minnesota Public Radio reports that the National Association of Women in Construction that they held a meeting on gendered violence in the workplace after Amber was killed. And according to Amber's family, this is somebody who fell in love with welding

in high school, attended Alexandria Technical and Community College after graduation, completed the 10-month welding technology program, then got this job at APT. According to people who worked alongside her, Amber was an excellent welder, totally committed to her craft. Fellow trades people say that Amber's savage killing is just an opportunity to spread awareness of what some women have experienced in this blue-collar world. If you get so angry by a woman existing on a job that it drives you to a murderous rage, you need to quit. You need to go work on your problems because it is not the woman's fault that she did an exemplary job and got murdered because of it. And people all over social media are sharing their tributes to Amber. They

are encouraging their fellow tradespeople to wear blue in her honor. Many women are sharing their own stories about working in jobs like welding and construction and mechanics and things like that. And a fundraiser for Amber's family has raised more than $100,000, which is incredible. But it has also become a place for people to share their condolences, especially fellow tradeswomen. For example, one person who donated commented, woman welder here, we see you, rest in peace. Another reads, we may not have known each other, but we were sisters in the trades. My heart aches for your family and the life you didn't get to finish. May your family find some comfort in this overwhelming time of grief. Your sisters in trade will carry you in their hearts. We will not

forget you. And then there is this touching message, quote, from one woman welder to another, may the arcs you strike among the heavens above fall back to the earth as only the brightest of stars. And we know that DeLong is expected back in court in January as this legal case continues. But Paul, you know, the human impact of this, the impact that Amber's death has had is pretty remarkable. As I've gotten older as a lawyer, for better or worse, a lot of my focus is not on, it's more on the victims, what they go through, the why, the how did this happen kind of thing. I probably should be focusing on my clients more, but I also take time to think about how could this have all played out where nobody saw any signs. And I'm not trying to blame people,

but how did this guy fall through the cracks to be able to do something like this? So it's just awful. It's just awful. And especially a woman who had the courage to make her own path in a male-dominated career like this. We all have daughters and think that our daughters could be treated the same way or harassed or, God forbid, even murdered. It's just, you don't even want to think about it. It's shocking. It's hard to even fathom that something like this could happen. And yes, look, under the law, he's innocent until proven guilty. He'll have his opportunity to present his defense, whatever that may be. But when you look at the evidence in this case and you look at so much that's been presented, again, go back to this idea of, you know, how did this happen? Could

it have been prevented? And just, you know, the impact her life, her death has had is remarkable. Paul Abelbaum, thank you so much for taking the time. Really appreciate it. Thank you for having me. And that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, wherever you should get your podcasts. You can follow me on X or Instagram.

I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. all episodes of this long crime series, ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.