Ogilvie man charged with killing grandmother with a hatchet

OGILVIE, Minn. -- A 42-year-old man from central Minnesota faces charges for allegedly killing his grandmother with a hatchet.

Police were called to the home on the 1300 block of Highway 23 on Tuesday to find Stella Anderson, 93, dead. Family members were gathered outside the home, and Anderson's son said he believed Dustin Gene Tinklenberg, Anderson's grandson, had killed her.

Tinklenberg was taken into custody and charged in Kanabec County with second-degree murder.

The complaint says two family members had stopped by the property on Monday to pick something up from a camper on site. One of the family members said she heard what she thought was shouting coming from inside the home. When she got back into her car, she said she saw Tinklenberg standing on the deck yelling about something.

In a post-Miranda interview, Tinklenberg said he does not have a home but occasionally stays with his grandmother, who he said had assaulted him as a young child, and had continued to harass him. He said he was at the home on Monday and eventually "lost it."

A family members said a hatchet was kept in one of the bedrooms of the home. During the investigation, officers learned that Tinklenberg had visited a different home in Ogilvie on Monday to spend time with the property owners. The owners said that while he was there, Tinklenberg showed them a double bladed hatchet in a sheath. 

A medical examiner determined Anderson's cause of death to be multiple sharp force injuries to the head with an item such as an axe or hatchet.

Second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 40 years, if convicted.

Domestic Violence Resources: For anonymous, confidential help, people can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224.