Charges: Mpls. Man Murdered Neighbor Over Broken Lawnmower
NOTE: This story is from August 2016.
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A dispute over a lawnmower led to one neighbor fatally shooting another.
The shooting happened Tuesday near 15th Ave and Main Street NE in Minneapolis. Edward Holzinger, 61, is accused of shooting his neighbor, 48-year-old Bruce Brown.
A quiet northeast Minneapolis neighborhood was the backdrop for a deadly shooting that began as a disagreement between neighbors. According to the criminal complaint, 61-year-old Edward Holzinger was upset with his neighbor about a lawnmower. The complaint says Holzinger loaned the lawnmower to his neighbor, 48-year-old Bruce Brown, and claimed he returned it broken.
Witnesses told police the pair had been arguing for days about the lawnmower.
It was Tuesday at around 8:30 p.m. Brown was with his family barbecuing in the back yard, when according to the complaint, Brown sarcastically yelled out at Holzinger who was sitting on his porch, "Do you want a hamburger?"
The complaint says Holzinger shouted back, "Come over and find out."
Family members told Brown to ignore the comment, but he left the yard and walked toward Holzinger. A few seconds later, gunshots rang out. Brown was shot in the chest twice.
His niece told police that as she ran to Brown and tried to stop his bleeding, Holzinger came over and said, "He deserved it. He called me a pedophile. I know I'm going to jail and I don't care."
He was pronounced dead on the sidewalk near his home. Holzinger was standing on the top steps of his house two doors away.
The complaint says he put his hands in the air and cooperated with police, who placed him under arrest. Brown's family say he was a huge Dallas Cowboys fan, a true family man, who enjoyed hunting and fishing in every little mud hole he could find.
His wife, Hannah, asked for privacy as she and their three children in Minnesota and daughter in Texas, plan a funeral.
Holzinger confessed to the crime and has been charged with second-degree murder. He is being held on a $1 million bond. If convicted, he could face 40 years behind bars.