Murder and Homicide

Minneapolis guns incidents, violent crime crept up in 2012

Minneapolis police recorded 45 more incidents involving guns in 2012 than the year prior, marking the first uptick in at least six years, according to a new report based on police data. Despite the minor increase, gun incidents are still down by 54 from 2010 and by 643 from 2007, the report shows. ... More >>

National "Stand Your Ground" debate hits home

Does the law give people a license to kill and legalize in-home murder?

Sharon Bloom slaying to be featured on "Motives and Murders" Saturday

The murder of 3M computer analyst Sharon Bloom will be the subject of Investigation Discovery's "Motives and Murders: Cracking the Case" Saturday night. One day in November 1989, Bloom never returned from work. Her body turned up in a cornfield 10 days later.

Byron Smith murder case: Was he under threat of great harm when he shot teenagers?

Byron Smith faces two charges of second-degree murder in connection with the killings of teenagers Haile Kifer and Nicholas Brady, both of whom were shot to death on Thanksgiving after they apparently broke into Smith's home.SEE ALSO: MNGOP Rep. Tony Cornish, author of "deadly force" bill, thinks By ... More >>

Angelina O'Mara admits to killing ex-husband days before she allegedly killed boyfriend

On Tuesday, Angelina O'Mara admitted to killing her ex-husband, 43-year-old James O'Mara, by shooting him in the head in his Sauk Rapids apartment on October 28, 2011. SEE ALSO:-- Richard Armstrong of Mpls broke out axe and blowtorch when wife said she's leaving him-- Wisconsin wife runs husband ove ... More >>

Eight conspirators planned to kill family, burn down house over $200 in pot and some cash

Eight people from the Fergus Falls area face conspiracy to commit murder charges after they launched an ill-fated plan to kill a small-time drug dealer with whom they had a beef.SEE ALSO: Teens face felonies after allegedly stealing cop radio and broadcasting, "F**k the police" But here's the twist ... More >>

Adam McCloud dies after Stillwater bar fight; Police sign off on murder charges

Adam McCloud, the 29-year-old hospitalized after a bar fight in Stillwater last week, died Thursday from injuries sustained by a blow to the head. SEE ALSO: One-punch homicide: When a night at the bar goes horribly wrong One-punch homicide costs California district attorney his job

Youth violence in Minneapolis

The fuzzy math behind the city's struggle to curb the crime wave

Carl Muggli, alleged totem pole killer, faces new murder charge in connection with wife's death

SEE ALSO: Carl Muggli accused of murdering wife with a totem poleA Koochiching County grand jury believes there's enough evidence to charge Carl Muggli with first-degree murder in connection with his wife's mysterious death.Muggli, 50, was already facing a second-degree murder charge and the possibi ... More >>

Brian Griffin pleads guilty to Millennium Hotel murder

The man charged with fatally shooting someone in a Millennium Hotel room earlier this year pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder Wednesday. Brian Vincent Griffin, a 33-year-old from Dayton, Minnesota, was smoking meth in the hotel room with three other people last February, according t ... More >>

Hezekiah Hamilton will not be charged with murder of Jody Patzner Jr., to be released

Minneapolis police thought they had their man last Wednesday when they arrested Hezekiah Hamilton in connection with the April 9 murder of Jody Patzner Jr. Turns out the Hennepin County attorney's office isn't as convinced.The Star Tribune, citing comments made by attorney's office spokesman Chuck L ... More >>

Brian Vincent Griffin charged in Millennium Hotel murder

​Brian Vincent Griffin, a 33-year-old from Dayton, Minnesota, has been charged in Minneapolis's first homicide of the year. According to the charges, Griffin was smoking meth with three others in a room at the Millennium Hotel early Saturday morning. Griffin got up as if he was leaving, but inste ... More >>

Amy Romero abandoned a newborn in the woods, where the baby died, says complaint

Amy Ann Romero abandoned her newborn baby in the woods, where the baby died, according to a criminal indictment just unsealed in Sibley County. Romero allegedly gave birth to Ava Juanita Aune on the morning of April 28, 2001, then abandoned Ava in the woods later that afternoon. The baby died. Rom ... More >>

William Dallas Chaboyea guilty in '96 murder of Native Gangster Disciple

William Dallas Chaboyea, a 35-year-old Bloomington man, pleaded guilty Monday to the 1996 murder of a Native Gangster Disciple. Chaboyea was part of the Native Mob, a rival gang with a reputation for carrying big guns and not hesitating to use them. This is the exact scenario that played out in a M ... More >>

Adam Sterling convicted, sentenced to life for murder of Leo Kohorst

​Adam Sterling, the 24-year old man on trial for the murder of October 2010 murder of his landlord, Leo Kohorst, was convicted by a Hennpin County jury this morning of first- and second-degree murder. A couple hours later, the jury came back with a life sentence for the murder.Sterling was found g ... More >>

Robert Shelby and Semaj Williams charged in murder of Shea Stremcha

Shelby and Williams face a sentence of up to 40 years in prison.​Robert Shelby and Semaj Williams broke into Shea Stremcha's house and shot him to death after he confronted them with a knife, according to a complaint filed  by the Hennepin County Attorney's office yesterday.Shelby and Wiliams ... More >>

Michael Richard Swanson will plead guilty to second Iowa murder

Michael Richard Swanson will plead guilty.​Michael Swanson has already been found guilty of murdering Sheila Myers in cold blood at a store in Humboldt, Iowa, last November. Now he's going to plead guilty to the second murder that night, of Vicky Bowman-Hall, in Algona. His legal team is tell ... More >>

Timothy Bakdash indicted for first-degree murder

​Timothy Ayman Bakdash, the man who drove his car into a crowd of pedestrians April 15 after an argument at the Library Bar in Dinkytown, has been indicted for murder one by a Grand Jury. Bakdash was initially charged with second-degree murder while the Hennepin County Attorney convened a Gra ... More >>

Man shot dead in Near North area of Minneapolis

Today brings news of the year's eighth homicide. ​Two separate calls came in late on Tuesday night -- one reporting that gunshots were heard around a Near North Minneapolis home, and one reporting that someone needed medical help. Minneapolis Fire and paramedics rushed to the scene at about 12:30 ... More >>

Mahdi Hassan Ali, Seward triple-homicide suspect, presses age dispute

Mahdi Hassan Ali claims he was a juvenile at the time of the Seward Market murders.​Thanks to some chilling security video, Mahdi Hassan Ali stands accused of being the triggerman at the Seward Market in January 2010 when three people were gunned down in a gruesome robbery gone wrong. But Ali ... More >>

Ladell James Antone Johnson charged with murdering Stanley Curtis Rogers

​Police say that 58-year-old Stanley Curtis Rogers was shot dead in a van on the night of Jan. 21 by Ladell James Antone Johnson in a robbery gone bad. Johnson, 18, was arrested Friday by MPD's Violent Criminal Apprehension Team. He's now been charged with murdering Rogers, and is being held in t ... More >>

Ladell James Antone Johnson, two juveniles, arrested in Stanley Curtis Rogers' murder

​​Ladell James Antone Johnson and two juveniles have been arrested in connection with the murder of 58-year-old ​Stanley Curtis Rogers, who was found dead in a car from a gunshot on Jan. 21st. His murder was the second homicide in Minneapolis this year.

Javaris Eugene Milton convicted in Dontae Johnson's murder

​Dontae D. Johnson was shot dead on a north Minneapolis street last Jan. 2, the first murder victim of the year. Javaris Eugene Milton was arrested six days later and charged with first degree murder and attempted first degree murder in the killing. Today he was found guilty on both counts.

Michael Swanson wants murder trials in juvenile court

Swanson isn't smiling now.​Michael Richard Swanson, the St. Louis Park 17-year-old charged with killing two Iowa convenience store employees for little more than cash and cigarettes, says he's too young to face the music as an adult. Maybe he's rethinking that happy perp routine outside the K ... More >>

Minneapolis violent crime rates drop: Comment of the day

HeatherHeatherHeather​Robbery, aggravated assault, and rape are all on the decline in Minneapolis. Close to numbers from the mid-1960s, in fact, according to new stats releases by the MPD that we mentioned yesterday. And even though murders doubled in 2010 compared to 2009, the past three ye ... More >>

Jonas Gerald Grice arrested in Anthony Hartman's car wash shooting death

Jonas Gerald Grice is being held on suspicion of second-degree murder​Anthony Hartman's dad, Dave, said his son was stepping up for a buddy caught in an argument. His mom, Karen, said she wished that maybe he'd been a little less of a hero. Either way, when he was gunned down at the Car Spa ca ... More >>

Dallas Drake puts hit on smiley-face killer theory

Just when you thought the smiley face killer theory had finally gone away... an academic researcher has attempted to debunk the hare-brained idea once and for all.

The Killer of His Daughter's Mother

A Cunning American Boy Becomes a Mexican Cartel Soldier and East L.A. Executioner

North side shooting victim dies at North Memorial

​Minneapolis police have another homicide on their hands. Shortly before 10 p.m. last night, officers from the Fourth Precinct were dispatched to a shooting in the 1500 block of Newton Ave N. When they got there, they found what appeared to be a shooting scene -- but no victim. At about t ... More >>

Preston Arnold arrested in 1993 cold case murder

​Minneapolis police say they've arrested Preston Arnold in the murder of Glora Dean Clay, a cold case that dates back to 1993. He's been charged with second-degree murder. According to the complaint, Clay's partially frozen body was found lying on some railroad tracks near 4056 Washington Ave ... More >>

Brandon J. Lewis charged in James E. King 's St. Patrick's Day slaying

Lewis is accused of gunning down James E. King Jr. on Lake Street earlier this month.

Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women releases grim annual "femicide" report

Drawn from news reports because no state or federal agency collects comprehensive data on domestic homicides, it's sobering reading.

Homicide No. 6: Teenager gunned down on James Avenue N.

Police said they have no suspects in custody, but members of the Homicide Unit are following leads.

Three men shot dead inside Franklin Avenue Somali grocery

The deaths are the second, third and fourth homicides of the year in Minneapolis.

Crime down in Minneapolis (way down)

The murder rate in Minneapolis is less than half of what it was two years ago.

Apple Valley teenager charged with murdering cabbie

After robbing the taxi driver, Abdirahman Abdiwaha Abdikarim stabbed him with a screwdriver.

Man pleads guilty to Wally Lundin murder

A man convicted of killing before pled guilty to the 1996 murder of Wally Lundin this week.

Dad arrested for baby's death

Remember the sad story of the 7-week-old baby who died on the 4th of July? Minneapolis police arrested the dad over the weekend.

Suspicious death is Minneapolis's 6th homicide

The man found dead in his Minneapolis apartment Monday was murdered, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner has determined.

Man accused of killing ex-girlfriend with hammer

Gulbertson allegedly went to a police station Sunday and said he "may have" killed his ex-girlfriend Jody Morrow. She got a restraining order against him in mid-May, police say.

Bicyclist beater sentencing delayed until July

The man convicted of killing a Minneapolis biker won't know his fate until next month now that his sentencing was delayed until next month.

Craigslist killer guilty on all counts

Michael Anderson, the 20-year-old man accused of killing a woman he lured to his Savage home with a fake Craigslist ad for a babysitter, has been found guilty of all charges by a jury.

Has the foreclosure crisis pacified Minneapolis' most dangerous neighborhoods?

Murder rates are down and sketchy spots are seeing crime overall dip

Murder Mystery in Blue Earth

"Number 26" comment thread

The Sins of the Father

Two murders and a suicide: The strange story of Father Ryan Erickson and the rift he made in Hudson, Wisconsin

Mother, Father, Killer

A new book asks what murder has to do with making babies

Frozen Stiffs

Bruce Rubenstein may hold the unusual distinction of being the state's leading chronicler of murder

Mary Winstead: Back to Mississippi

Snitch Botch

When police informant Johnny Edwards sang, men went to prison. Now his tune is coming back to haunt the courts.