Man Charged In New Brighton Feud Shooting Pleads Not Guilty
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A New Brighton man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and attempted murder in connection to a dispute over feeding deer that turned deadly.
Neal Zumberge, 57, entered the plea Thursday afternoon. He was charged Wednesday with first-degree murder, first-degree attempted murder, second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder.
Previously, he'd only been charged with two counts of murder and attempted murder in the second degree.
The charges — now four in total — stem from May 5 when Zumberge allegedly shot two of his neighbors with a shotgun. One victim, 46-year-old Todd Stevens, died, and the other, 48-year-old Jennifer Damerow-Cleven, suffered serious injuries.
According to officials, the shooting was the deadly climax of a long-running feud over Stevens and Damerow-Cleven feeding deer in their yard.
Zumberge's son had thought the practice had given his father Lyme disease, and the 23-year-old allegedly threatened to kill Stevens and his girlfriend and burn their house down.
It was hours after the younger Zumberge was arrested in connection to these threats that Neal Zumberge allegedly went outside with a shotgun and shot his neighbors.
After his not guilty plea, a bail study was ordered and a trial date was set for February 2015.