Man put brother in fatal chokehold outside northern Minnesota home, charges state

BELTRAMI, Minn. — A northern Minnesota man is accused of choking his brother to death during a fight early Saturday morning in Beltrami County.

The sheriff's office says deputies and Leech Lake police officers were called to Ten Lake Township near Cass Lake on a report of a fight outside of a residence. 

The criminal complaint states they arrived to find the 48-year-old suspect, from Cass Lake, on top of his brother, who he had in a chokehold.

The officers and deputies tried to get him off his brother and unsuccessfully used an electroshock weapon to make him comply. At one point the suspect told them "he's already dead," the complaint states.

Officers eventually pulled him off the unresponsive victim. The sheriff's office says he was pronounced dead about an hour later at Cass Lake Indian Health Services.

A witness told investigators she awoke that morning to a "commotion outside" and saw the suspect on top of the victim, who was struggling to speak. The criminal complaint states she woke up another person inside the house who called 911. That witness told investigators the victim "pleaded with her" to help get his brother off of him.

The suspect has a lengthy criminal history, according to the complaint, including two felony assault convictions.

He was charged with one count of second-degree murder and is being held at the Beltrami County Correctional Facility. He faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.