Joseph David Bulfer faces eight felony counts after police say he killed Joshua Robert Downey and assaulted Rosalyn Marie Rode.

MANKATO, Minn. — A Fairmont man is charged with murder, attempted murder and six other felonies after police say he broke into a Mankato townhome, fatally shot his former girlfriend’s boyfriend and beat the woman in a bathroom.

The case against Joseph David Bulfer, 44, began with a Sunday afternoon 911 call from the 700 block of Castle Pines Drive. Court records say Joshua Robert Downey, 52, was found dead in a bedroom and Rosalyn Marie Rode, 37, was found injured in a bathroom. Prosecutors say the attack followed a past dating relationship between Bulfer and Rode that ended months earlier.

The first call came at about 1:35 p.m. April 26, when a neighbor reported a loud bang, a hole in a shared wall and noises from the nearby townhome. Dispatchers soon received another call from inside the home. The caller reported being shot with an AR-15, according to the complaint. As officers drove to the scene, dispatchers heard screaming and updates from the open phone line. The complaint says the suspect was still inside and that a woman had been forced toward the shower area. Officers went to an open north-side door after locating the address. Mankato police Officer Rick Wanderscheid said officers entered because they had reports of gunfire and possible victims inside. As they cleared the ground floor, they heard another shot from upstairs.

Police say officers went up the stairs and saw Bulfer come out of an upstairs bathroom area. Other officers reported that he threw a rifle into a bedroom before raising his hands. Wanderscheid, Officer Courtney Walker and Sgt. Matt Huettl ordered him toward them, and Minnesota State Patrol Sgt. Ryan Marthaler handcuffed him. When officers asked who else was inside, the complaint says Bulfer told them Rode was in the bathroom and Downey was dead. He later said, “I apologize for the inconvenience,” according to the complaint. As officers took him to a squad car, he said, “Hey sorry guys. Didn’t mean to get you out here today.” A medic asked whether he needed care, and the complaint says Bulfer declined, saying he wanted to go to jail.

Inside the bedroom, Marthaler saw Downey on the floor with obvious trauma and no signs of life, the complaint says. A fire department member checked Downey and found no pulse. A rifle was on the bed. Numerous spent rifle rounds were on the floor, and holes that looked like bullet damage were seen in a wall. Rode was in the attached bathroom, covered in blood, visibly scared and with her head down in the bathtub, the complaint says. She told officers her head and side hurt and was able to walk out with help. She was turned over to a Mankato Fire Department member and later treated at Mayo Clinic Health System in Mankato.

Rode gave an initial statement to Agent Jeff Fischbach of the Minnesota Valley River Drug Task Force while she was at a medical facility. She said she and Bulfer had dated for a time and broke up in about December 2025. She later started dating Downey, and she told investigators Bulfer could not handle that. On the morning of the shooting, she said, Bulfer wanted to talk. She told him she was going to church and then planned to run errands. By Sunday afternoon, she and Downey were watching a movie at her townhome. Rode told investigators the front door was locked and the garage door was shut. She then heard the door open and someone run upstairs.

The complaint says Bulfer opened the bedroom door and fired multiple shots at Downey. Rode said Bulfer then put the gun to himself while yelling that she was to blame. Investigators say he forced her to look at Downey, struck her and moved her into the bathroom. She said she was sitting on the toilet when Bulfer hit her in the head with the butt stock of the rifle. He kept hitting her while saying the shooting was her fault, the complaint says. Rode told investigators Bulfer demanded that she get into the bathtub so he could drain her blood. She said she begged him to stop and told him her children needed her. Bulfer then pointed the rifle at himself and at her several times, according to the complaint, and fired into the floor and wall.

Investigators say Rode had hidden her cellphone on her body and placed a 911 call while the attack continued. Officer Dylan McCarville told investigators dispatchers heard part of the attack through the open line. The complaint summarizes threats and statements attributed to Bulfer, including “you just caused him to die” and “Do you want me to pull the trigger.” The woman could also be heard pleading for him to stop. Police did not say in the complaint how Bulfer entered the locked home, and reports from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Crime Scene Team were still pending when the complaint was filed.

The provisional autopsy described severe gunshot injuries to Downey. The complaint says he had six entrance wounds to the head and face, multiple entrance, exit and graze wounds to the torso, four entrance wounds to the right arm and shoulder, and a wound to the left forearm. Investigators recovered about 20 spent shell casings from the bedroom. Rode’s preliminary injuries included numerous bruises to her head and body, a head cut, a collapsed lung and three to four broken ribs. The complaint does not say whether she had been released from the hospital. Authorities identified Downey as a Mankato resident. Local reports described him as a county parks supervisor and a father of two.

Bulfer is charged in Blue Earth County District Court with second-degree murder with intent, attempted second-degree murder with intent, first-degree assault, second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, illegal possession of a firearm and three counts of first-degree burglary. The complaint says he has prior felony convictions for threats of violence, first-degree burglary and domestic assault by strangulation. Prosecutors filed the complaint April 28, and Judge Susan DeVos found probable cause the same day. A court set bail at $5 million with conditions or $10 million without conditions, according to local reporting. The charges are accusations, and Bulfer is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The court record shows several unanswered issues remain. Investigators were still waiting for reports, including crime scene findings from the state agency. The complaint also says it may be supplemented later. Those future reports could address ballistics, the path of bullets through the townhome, the rifle and any additional physical evidence collected from the bedroom, bathroom, hallway and door areas. The case also places the 911 recordings, Rode’s medical records and autopsy findings at the center of the prosecution’s timeline. The next steps include continued court proceedings in Blue Earth County, possible motions over evidence and any later changes prosecutors may seek to the complaint.

The scene described by police was a two-level townhome where a quiet afternoon quickly drew officers, fire crews and medics. A neighbor’s report of a loud bang and a hole in the wall gave dispatchers the first sign that gunfire may have passed beyond one unit. Officers then heard a shot after entering, and moved upstairs while the threat was still active. Bulfer’s statements after his arrest were brief and calm, the complaint says, even as emergency workers checked the victims. Rode’s account, by contrast, gave investigators a picture of a sudden bedroom attack that moved into a bathroom, where she said she stayed alive by hiding her phone and keeping the line open.

Currently, Bulfer remains held as the murder case moved forward in Blue Earth County District Court. Prosecutors have not said whether more charges will be filed, and the investigation was listed as ongoing in the complaint.

Author note: Last updated May 22, 2026.