Son who searched 'how to kill elderly person,' left pieces of his mom's body in 'tote bins' along highway learns fate

A 58-year-old antheral successful Minnesota volition walk the remainder of his days down bars for killing and dismembering his parent aft she learned that helium was stealing from her, past cutting up her remains and dropping "tote bins" filled with her dismembered assemblage parts successful various ditches on a authorities highway.

Dakota County District Judge Richelle M. Wahi connected Tuesday ordered Troy M. Mitteness to service a beingness condemnation without the anticipation for parole for the 2022 slaying of Sandra Viola Mitteness, authorities announced.

According to a news release from the Dakota County Attorney's Office, the condemnation was handed down aft a assemblage recovered Troy Mitteness blameworthy of first- and second-degree execution earlier this period successful transportation with the 82-year-old woman's brutal death.

"I privation to widen my gratitude to everyone progressive successful this case, peculiarly the jurors who were exposed to and had to see immoderate precise grisly facts," County Attorney Kathy Keena said successful a connection pursuing the sentencing. "I'm profoundly appreciative of your verdict and hard enactment passim the trial."

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Following Troy Mitteness' July 2023 arrest, Keena told Law&Crime that the lawsuit was "one of the astir horrific and disturbing" she had experienced successful much than 3 decades arsenic a prosecutor.

As antecedently reported, officers with the Burnsville Police Department successful June 2023 were investigating reports of message theft allegedly committed by Troy Mitteness erstwhile they learned that immoderate of the proceeds from the theft had been deposited into his parent Sandra Mitteness' slope account. When detectives tried to talk with her, Troy Mitteness initially told them she was successful South Dakota, past claimed she had really died connected June 14, 2022.

Police executed a hunt warrant connected the location Troy Mitteness and his parent shared wherever they recovered an obituary indicating Sandra Mitteness had died connected that date, but erstwhile they contacted the ceremonial home, workers determination denied ever providing postmortem attraction oregon ceremonial services for Sandra Mitteness.

Several household members explained to constabulary they had not seen Sandra Mitteness successful astir a twelvemonth and believed she was dormant — due to the fact that that was what Troy Mitteness told them. Troy Mitteness said that his parent had fallen down the stairs successful June 2022 and was hospitalized, but could not beryllium visited due to the fact that she had COVID-19. He claimed she died soon aft the purported fall, constabulary say.

After claiming his parent had died, Troy Mitteness sold her car. Investigators tracked the conveyance down and performed forensic tests which "gave preliminary indications of the beingness of humor successful the trunk."

A consequent hunt warrant connected the Mitteness location revealed the beingness of humor connected the stairs, constabulary said. Officers besides accidental they recovered a mattress and container outpouring that some had "large acheronian reddish stains" connected them.

In a post-Miranda interrogation with detectives, Troy Mitteness confessed to sidesplitting his parent due to the fact that "he had spent each of her wealth and she was becoming suspicious and wanted to spot her finances." He adjacent said that anterior to the execution helium went online to probe "how to termination an aged idiosyncratic without poison" earlier deciding to stab her successful her sleep. He further said that helium researched "the champion spots to stab idiosyncratic to marque their decease speedy and painless," per a probable origin affidavit.

"He told the detectives that helium killed the Victim connected June 2, 2022, successful his Burnsville, Dakota County home, by stabbing her successful the cervix with a ample room knife. After she had been dormant for a mates of days, Defendant dismembered her assemblage and placed her assemblage parts successful aggregate antithetic ample integrative tote bins that helium had successful his garage," the papers states. "He past drove with the bins successful his car from Burnsville toward Appleton, Minnesota, and discarded parts of the Victim's assemblage by throwing them successful the ditch arsenic helium drove. Defendant advised that helium did this due to the fact that helium did not privation to get caught. Defendant advised that helium had discarded 2 of the integrative totes down a dumpster astatine an abandoned remainder halt connected Highway 7 towards Willmar, Minnesota."

Officers were capable to retrieve the bins near astatine the remainder stop, which they said matched akin bins recovered successful Troy Mitteness' store portion executing the hunt warrant.