A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 35
Jana Peterson [email protected] A Moose Lake woman faces nine criminal charges after rear-ending an ATV at approximately 4 p.m. Saturday, July 6, while allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol. Dannaka Lennea Miller, 30, was arraigned in Sixth District Carlton County Court on Tuesday, July 9, on multiple charges of gross misdemeanor criminal vehicular operation, bodily harm, as well as gross misdemeanor DWI charges, and misdemeanor charges of driving after revocation, not carrying insurance and having an open bottle of an alcoholic...
A 32-year-old Moose Lake man is in Carlton County Jail awaiting sentencing following a guilty plea in March to felony criminal sexual conduct. The charge is related to a 2023 incident involving a vulnerable 15-year-old girl. Justin Eugene Arbuckle pled guilty March 6 to third-degree penetration of a victim under 18 — impaired/incapacitated/helpless. The victim is on the autism spectrum and requires use of an individualized education program in school. She was considered vulnerable, “easily manipulated,” and in need of supervision, accor...
Court dispositions are public records submitted by the Sixth District Court in Carlton County. The Pine Knot News lists felony and gross misdemeanor convictions. OCT. 17, 2023 Anderson, Victoria Bernice, 32, Foxboro, Wisconsin, felony assault fourth degree, secure treatment facility, throw/transfer bodily fluid or feces. Fined $50. Samuelson, Darien Daniel, 30, Cloquet, gross misdemeanor nonconsensual dissemination of private sexual images, intentionally disseminate images without consent. Adult supervised probation, two years. Fined $50....
Last week, the Carlton County’s office dismissed two first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges previously filed against Chad Arnold Connor. The reason listed was “prosecutorial discretion.” When contacted, Carlton County Attorney Lauri Ketola declined to discuss Connor’s case specifically. She did, however, talk about the challenge of prosecuting cases that revolve around conduct from years before. “It can be difficult to prove,” said Ketola, who has made prosecuting sexual abuse a priority. She noted that her office doesn’t file charges...
A 76-year-old Cloquet man could be facing more than 11 years in prison for possession of child pornography and use of a minor in pornographic work. On April 24, Edward Christian entered a plea to seven counts of possession of pornographic work; minor under 14 along with one count of use of minors in sexual performance/pornographic work; minor under 14 years old. Under the terms of the plea agreement, six charges of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree with a person under 13 were dismissed. According to the criminal complaint, Christian...
A call from a concerned citizen last month led to the arrest of a 19-year-old Cloquet man, after police officers allegedly found more than 1,200 fentanyl pills in the BMW car he was driving. James Daniel Randa was charged with aggravated first-degree controlled substance crime with a firearm and first-degree drug possession, both felonies, in Carlton County Court earlier this month. Randa was also charged with carrying a pistol without a permit, a gross misdemeanor. Carlton County attorney Lauri Ketola said field testing showed the presence of...
A 16-year-old Superior boy pleaded guilty Tuesday, Oct. 25, to second-degree felony assault, after firing shots at a carful of people during a July incident in Pinehurst Park in Cloquet. Appearing before Judge Amy Lukasavitz in District Court in Carlton, the boy admitted to firing a 9-millimeter handgun 12 times at the car. The incident was preceded by an argument and foot chase involving two other juvenile males in the park late in the evening July 2. The males fled after the assailant brandished the gun. Two women driving by picked up the...
An omnibus hearing for homicide suspect Raymond Arthur Julian was delayed until December on Tuesday, because there are a number of “computer-type devices” still out for analysis with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. “Given the number of devices and general timeline, it’s still going to take some time,” said assistant county attorney Jeffrey Boucher. “We have asked that it be expedited given the serious nature of this case, but it’s not yet complete.” Julian has been in the Carlton County jail since he was arrested in December 202...
Hearings in a 2020 case of a Sawyer man accused of sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman who was a guest at his home have resumed, after first being delayed because of Covid-19 concerns and then because the suspect failed to appear in court. Jamin Paul Beardley, 46, faces charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct filed in August of 2020. After he failed to appear at a review hearing on May 10, 2021, the jury trial set for the following week was canceled. Beardsley had also been sentenced to 90 days in jail in April 2021 — which he didn...
A Cloquet man is facing charges for allegedly sexually assaulting a young girl approximately five years ago. Kim James Connors Jr., aka KC, age 30, is facing one charge of first degree criminal sexual conduct-penetration or contact with a person under 13. Charges were filed in late March, but Connors didn’t make his first court appearance until May 23, after being picked up on a warrant by Fond du Lac police. According to the criminal complaint, last summer a now 11-year-old girl reported to staff at the Carlton County youth shelter and e...
Jury selection started Monday, May 16, in the long-awaited homicide trial of 35-year-old Sheldon Thompson, with the trial expected to last into early June. Thompson is accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, Jackie Defoe, her unborn child, and her 20-month-old son in March 2020. Thompson faces two charges of murder in the first degree each for the deaths of Jackie Ann Defoe and her son Kevin Lee Shabaiash Jr., and one charge of murder in the first degree of an unborn child, premeditated. He also faces two charges of murder in the second deg...
A Kettle River woman was allegedly shot and killed by her husband Friday, Dec. 10. Raymond Arthur Julian, 65, allegedly told police he killed his wife, Tracy Ellen Julian, 62, when they came to his house Friday. Raymond made his first appearance in Sixth District Carlton County Court Monday afternoon on charges of murder in the second degree, with intent-not premeditated. Bail was set at $1 million. Carlton County County 911 dispatch received a call at 2:35 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10, requesting a...
An Onamia woman who crashed into a tree in Cloquet last year in an accident that killed her 3-year-old son was sentenced in Sixth District Carlton County Court Monday, but won’t serve any time in prison. Misty Louise Mattinas, 27, pleaded guilty in October to criminal vehicular homicide, a felony, for driving while under the influence of alcohol. Twelve other charges were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. The Cloquet police responded to the single-vehicle crash on the 1500 block of White Pine Trail on the afternoon of Nov. 8, 2020 and f...
Sixth District Court judge Jill Eichenwald set a trial date of May 16 during a settlement conference Wednesday for a Cloquet man accused in the murder of a pregnant woman and her child. Sheldon James Thompson is accused of killing Jackie Defoe, her unborn child, and her 20-month-old son in March 2020. Thompson faces two charges of murder in the first degree each for the deaths of Jackie Ann Defoe and her son Kevin Lee Shabaiash Jr., and one charge of murder in the first degree of an unborn...
A Cloquet man faces manslaughter charges following a fight in his apartment. Joel Jay Ammesmaki, 58, was charged with first-degree manslaughter Thursday in Sixth District Carlton County Court for “causing the death of another while committing assault in the fifth degree with such force and violence” that death or great harm was “reasonably foreseeable.” Officers from the Cloquet and Fond du Lac police departments responded to a 9-1-1 call at around 2 a.m. Sept. 14 reporting an unwanted person...
A district judge on Monday denied a change of venue and dismissal of counts against a Cloquet man accused in the murder of a pregnant woman and her child. Sheldon James Thompson, who is accused of killing Jackie Defoe, her unborn child and her 20-month-old son, faces two charges of murder in the first degree each for the deaths of Jackie Ann Defoe and her son Kevin Lee Shabaiash Jr., and one charge of murder in the first degree of an unborn child, premeditated. In the order filed Monday, Judge Jill Eichenwald, denied his attorney’s request t...
A Cloquet man faces manslaughter charges following a fight in his apartment. Joel Ammesmaki, 58, was charged with first-degree manslaughter Thursday in Sixth District Carlton County Court, “causing the death of another while committing assault in the fifth degree with such force and violence” that death or great harm was “reasonably foreseeable.” Officers from the Cloquet and Fond du Lac police departments responded to a 9-1-1 call at approximately 2:09 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, reporting an unwa...
A 38-year-old Cromwell man was sentenced to more than 23 years in prison Monday for engaging in oral sex with a 7-year-old girl. Francis Lenard Marsh was convicted of three counts of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree, including penetrative sex with a victim under 16, multiple acts, by a jury. On Monday, Carlton County Sixth District judge Robert Macaulay sentenced Marsh to concurrent sentences of 280 months (23 years, 4 months) and 187 months (15 years, 7 months) in prison. He is expected to serve at least two-thirds of the longest se...
The attorney for a Cloquet man facing both first- and second-degree murder charges will be asking the court to both dismiss the case and change the venue. In an online hearing held Wednesday, June 9, defense attorney Steve Bergeson, assistant state public defender and a member of the Public Defender Trial Team, asked Sixth District judge Jill Eichenwald for a month to submit his arguments for dismissal and a change of venue in writing. Eichenwald granted that request, and a request by prosecutor Erin Eldridge for another month in which to...
A man who shot his sister's boyfriend at a funeral on the Fond du Lac reservation in 2019 was sentenced to 110 months in prison Monday. Shelby Gene Boswell, 29, was convicted in federal court with possession and discharge of a firearm (a .22 caliber rifle) by a convicted felon. His sentence of 110 months will be followed by three years of supervised release for illegally possessing and discharging a firearm in a school zone. According to the criminal complaint, on Oct. 18, 2019, Boswell...
Shortly after midnight early Monday morning, May 17, Cloquet Police Department officers responded to 227 Scotty Drive in Cloquet for a report of several shots fired at the residence. Officers responded and confirmed the initial reports. No one was injured. A short while later, at approximately 12:30 a.m., officers received a report of a second shooting, later determined to have occurred at 973 Ozhigaw Road in Cloquet. The victim, a 27-year-old male from Cloquet, had a gunshot wound to the leg...
A Cloquet police officer who pleaded guilty to driving while impaired last summer is now facing discipline from the police department. Officer Andrew Michael Murray is being suspended without pay for 14 workdays, or 168 hours, upon the recommendation of police chief Derek Randall and agreement of city administrator Tim Peterson, who signed off on Murray’s suspension Thursday, April 8. The city/CPD is also imposing a “final and last chance agreement” for any alcohol or impairment-related offen...
The Barnum girls basketball coach was arrested Tuesday, Jan. 19, for allegedly sexually assaulting one of his players. Andrew John Palmer, 33, of Moose Lake was charged with three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Carlton County Sixth District Court Thursday; each count is related to a different alleged sexual encounter. According to the criminal complaint, the victim’s parents contacted local law enforcement on Sunday, Jan. 17, regarding a possible criminal sexual assault of their 17-year-old daughter by her basketball c...
A Cloquet police officer made his first virtual court appearance Oct. 15 after being arrested for driving while impaired in August. The next court action will take place Nov. 5. Andrew Michael Murray, 34, allegedly crashed his car near 223 Gillespie Road in Carlton on Aug. 6, and fled into some nearby woods, according to a Minnesota State Patrol incident report. In addition to the MSP, Cloquet and Fond du Lac police officers assisted at the scene. Murray was located a short time later and taken into custody without incident. Murray is being cha...
When she was murdered, Jackie DeFoe joined a long list of Native American women who have been victims of violence. A 2016 National Institute of Justice report revealed that four in five American Indian (and Alaskan Native) women have experienced violence in their lifetime, and more than half have experienced physical violence by intimate partners. It’s an issue that touches everyone, said Cloquet’s Sheila Lamb, who sits on the statewide Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women task force and works...
