Man pleads guilty to attempted murder in 2024 hammer attack

NEW PHILADELPHIA – The man who attacked a Dover gas station clerk with a hammer in December 2024 has pleaded guilty to attempted murder and felonious assault.

Police say 40-year-old John McNutt hit a female clerk in the head with a hammer multiple times in a failed robbery attempt at the Speedway on North Wooster Avenue in Dover on December 9^th, 2024. He was arrested a few hours later.

Officials said it was a miracle the clerk survived the violent, bloody attack. McNutt has been receiving court-ordered treatment at Heartland Behavioral Healthcare in Massillon and undergoing competency and sanity evaluations over the past year. He was deemed competent to stand trial in November.

Earlier this month, McNutt changed his plea to guilty to a first-degree felony charge of attempted murder and two second-degree felonious assault charges.

Two felony aggravated robbery charges were dropped.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 21^st.

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