Man charged with killing his cellmate at Lino Lakes prison earlier this month
LINO LAKES, Minn. — Charges have been filed against a man suspected of killing his cellmate at Lino Lakes prison earlier this month.
According to the criminal complaint, the suspect told officials that he "just snapped." He and his cellmate "had words" and said that he should "maybe beat him up" at some point.
The charges say that, on Oct. 5, after the victim made a comment about a female member of the suspect's family, he dragged the victim out of his bunk, slammed him to the floor and punched and kicked him a couple of times. The suspect then grabbed a string that was being used to keep their cell door open and strangled his cellmate with it.
Afterward, according to the complaint, the suspect cleaned the victim up and put him in his bunk on his side to make it look as though he were sleeping. The suspect then went to sleep in his bunk.
The following day the prisoner made a call to explain what he did to his cellmate. The call was recorded and collected by BCA agents. The prisoner alerted guards to his dead cellmate after he grew concerned that they had not discovered him.
According to the complaint, the suspect says that he was not under the influence of anything and that no one assisted him.
He has been charged by the Anoka County Attorney's Office with second-degree murder.