Defense wants admission struck in murder case

A former Fond du Lac police patrol officer took to the witness stand during the Carlton County Sixth District Court hearing held Sept. 1 for Sheldon Thompson, a Cloquet man accused of murdering his pregnant girlfriend and her young son in March 2020.

Deputy Nils Hansen, now with the Carlton County Sheriff's Office, was the only person to testify, with much of the testimony centering around the alleged "utterance" he reported Thompson made while he was being treated for possible hypothermia after being captured.

During questioning by both the prosecution and defense, Hansen repeated the words he said Thompson said aloud without prompting: "I messed up. I'm going away for a long time."

That statement is included in Hansen's report about the arrest, but there is no recording - Hansen's wireless microphone was on but too far from his car to connect, he learned later - and no one else has testified they did or did not hear Thompson say that.

Defense attorney Steve Bergeson has filed a motion challenging Hansen's testimony, asking the court to suppress any statements, admissions or answers made by Thompson before, at the time of, or after his arrest "without the assistance of benefit of his attorney," arguing that any statements were not given freely and voluntarily, and violate the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution and the state of Minnesota.

Bergeson is also asking for a change of venue in the case because of prior publicity and news reports.

In total, Thompson faces eight charges: two charges of murder in the first degree (premeditated and while committing domestic abuse) 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 degree-intent, not premeditated for Defoe and Shabaiash, and murder in the second degree of an unborn child- intent, not premeditated.

According to the criminal complaint, Fond du Lac police officers responded to a call for service on March 7, 2020 from someone who said they had spoken with Thompson the previous day, and said Thompson allegedly told them he had killed Jackie DeFoe and her son. When Fond du Lac officers went to DeFoe's residence on Locke Lane and knocked on the door, they did not get a response, but noted damage to the door.

After police received a search warrant to enter the home later that day, they found DeFoe dead, with stab wounds, in a closet. She had been 13 weeks pregnant. They found her son's body in another bedroom, with observable bruising around the head. Both bodies were concealed under blankets and clothing and the doors had been screwed shut. According to the criminal complaint, Thompson allegedly told numerous people that he had killed DeFoe and her child.

Police attempts to locate Thompson, who had lived at the home intermittently, were initially unsuccessful. With the assistance of a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter and a K-9 from the Carlton County Sheriff's Office, he was located in a wooded area off Mission Road in Perch Lake Township and taken into custody March 8, 2020.

It was the circumstances of that arrest that were the subject of most of the Sept. 1 hearing.

Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Erin Eldridge mostly asked Hansen about the details of the search and arrest and his role - which was to help locate and escort the defendant - and about Thompson's care in the ambulance and what led up to the alleged statement.

Bergeson asked numerous questions about Thompson's condition after he was found with the help of a police K-9 near a brush pile in the woods off Mission Road near the intersection with Magney Road, and Hansen said he suspected he could be hypothermic because they found a heavier winter coat he had discarded, which can be a sign of hypothermia.

Deputy Hansen freely admitted that he had not read or otherwise given Thompson his Miranda rights, stating that when Thompson attempted to talk to him he told the suspect to focus on his medical care. Nor did he tell Thompson he should remain silent. When pressed by Bergeson about what exactly he said to Thompson when he tried to talk to him, Hansen said he could not recall his exact words. "My recollection is I advised him to focus on the medical attention," Hansen said. He later said that Thompson seemed coherent when he made the statement.

Bergeson said he was pushing for a more specific answer because he was trying to determine if Hansen said anything "that seems like a Miranda warning." In the 1966 Miranda case, the courts established that a defendant cannot be questioned by police until they are made aware of their right to remain silent, consult with an attorney or have an attorney present during questioning.

Hansen testified repeatedly that he did not ask Thompson any questions after his arrest - he was discovered by numerous law enforcement officials - or when he was inside the ambulance.

Judge Jill Eichenwald did not issue any rulings in the case last week. Instead, she gave the defense and prosecution two weeks each to submit written arguments and then rebuttals. Eichenwald set a preliminary settlement hearing for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 27 with the anticipation that she would have the order done.

Nearly a dozen people attended the hearing last week, including several children. All five adults in the front row of the courtroom gallery last week were wearing identical red T-shirts, with a drawing of Jackie Defoe, her son Kevin Shabaiash Jr. and two bears on the front with the words "Justice for Jackie, Kevin Jr. & unborn baby boy! MMIWR (Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives).

Defoe's mother, Tammy Suomi, was in tears after the hearing. Jessica Smith, a national MMIW advocate, said the family "can't begin to heal until the court process and trial get moving," referring to the many delays caused by both the pandemic and court procedures, including grand jury proceedings last October that resulted in the first- degree murder charges.

Regarding the request to move the trial out of Carlton County, Smith said the news is all over social media, so it won't matter where the trial is held. Wherever it is held, they will be there, she said, indicating a handful of supporters in the parking lot after the hearing.

"We will continue to show up, especially with our shirts on. I think seeing their (Jackie and her son's) faces, their beautiful smiles that were taken from us, will make a difference," Smith said.

Thompson has been in custody at the Carlton County jail since he was arrested, with bail still set at $1 million, with no 10-percent cash option.