What you missed this week in notable Bismarck crimes and court cases
This week's local crime and court updates from The Bismarck Tribune
A man who Mandan police say stole a bottle of tequila from a liquor store and then punched a female clerk pleaded not guilty on Monday and is scheduled for a January trial on charges of robbery and disorderly conduct.
Anthony Whiteman, 32, was arrested in October when police responded to a call that he had taken the liquor without paying for it, according to a police affidavit. The store clerk followed Whiteman outside and was able to take the bottle from him. Whiteman allegedly struck her with a closed fist and fled. He was arrested a short time later and denied hitting the clerk, the affidavit said.
The clerk suffered a swollen left cheekbone but did not seek medical attention, according to authorities.
Whiteman waived his right to a preliminary hearing before entering the pleas at his arraignment, Assistant Morton County State’s Attorney Austin Gunderson said. South Central District Judge Gail Hagerty set a trial date of Jan. 30.
Whiteman is being held in the Burleigh Morton Detention Center in lieu of $5,000 cash bail, according to the center’s website.
A Minnesota man who Burleigh County authorities say had 36 pounds of high-grade marijuana in his vehicle pleaded not guilty Monday.
Mario Juarez, 48, of Burnsville, Minn., was arrested in October after sheriff’s deputies stopped him for a traffic violation. A search of his vehicle turned up 30 bags of marijuana worth more than $100,000, according to a police affidavit.
Defense attorney Patrick Brooke requested a reduction of Juarez’ bail or a modification from its cash-only status to that of a surety bond. Assistant State’s Attorney Dennis Ingold argued against the change, saying the charge against Juarez was a Class A felony and Juarez would be a flight risk.
South Central District Judge Cynthia Feland let stand the $75,000 bail set earlier and scheduled trial for March 18, 2020.
A man charged after authorities say they found his DNA on a cigarette butt that was left at a Dakota Access Pipeline protest site two years ago is set for a preliminary hearing next week but in the meantime has settled two other protest-related cases against him.
The attorney for Lawrence Malcolm Jr. has forwarded written guilty pleas to Morton County prosecutors to settle cases from 2016 and 2017. The pleas must be signed by the State’s Attorney's Office and then approved by a judge. That appears likely to happen, as court records show the cases have been settled and the court dates canceled.
Malcolm has agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of physical obstruction of a government function in the 2017 case, said his attorney, Bruce Nestor of Minneapolis. Nine other misdemeanors and a felony simple assault charge will be dismissed under the terms of the agreement. Two felony charges and one misdemeanor will be dismissed in a 2016 case in which Malcolm has agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor trespassing.
The agreement stipulates a sentence of 30 days in jail with enough credit for time served to cover the sentence, Nestor said. Malcolm will not be placed on probation if the agreement is approved as submitted.
The remaining DAPL case against Malcolm, 23, of Sisseton, S.D., was brought in September after investigators say his DNA on a cigarette butt linked him to the scene of a 2016 protest where rioters caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage to construction equipment, an affidavit states. His DNA was on file from a previous arrest.
He was charged with felony conspiracy to commit criminal mischief and misdemeanor conspiracy of engaging in a riot. He turned himself in and made his initial court appearance in October.
Nestor argued in a September motion for dismissal of the charges that it’s impossible to determine where the cigarette butt originated or how long it might have been there.
Malcolm is observed on the riot scene in photos and video, prosecutors said, and a preliminary hearing is “the more appropriate time for addressing probable cause.”
A judge will hear arguments on Thursday and decide if the case should move to trial.
Assistant Morton County State’s Attorney Chase Lingle, who is listed on court documents as the prosecutor in the case, did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.
A Bismarck man in custody and set to be tried next week for alleged sex crimes in Burleigh County faces new accusations in Morton County, court documents show.
An arrest warrant was issued in Morton County on Thursday for Russell Walbert, 64. He is accused of inappropriately touching a girl in several incidents from 2001 to 2004, when the girl was 4 and 5 years old, according to a police affidavit.
Walbert in July was charged in Burleigh County with four counts of gross sexual imposition. He was accused of inappropriately touching a girl in several incidents in 2017, when she was 8 and 9 years old.
He is being held in the Burleigh Morton Detention Center in lieu of $25,000 bail on the Burleigh County charges. The trial in that case is scheduled to start Tuesday. No attorney is listed for him in the Morton County case.
FARGO — A man charged in the grisly killings of four people at a Mandan property management company argued in a filing Wednesday that authorities failed to obtain proper search warrants involving cell phone location and other searches and evidence should be thrown out.
Chad Isaak, 45, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder in the April 1 shooting and stabbing deaths at RJR Maintenance and Management in Mandan. Isaak lived in a mobile home park managed by the agency in Washburn, about 35 miles north (56 kilometers) north of Mandan. Police have not identified a motive in the killings.
Isaak argues that law enforcement failed to properly obtain warrants for his home, his business, his truck, his social media accounts and his electronic devices. He says even if the state suspected him of committing the killings, the warrant applications were overbroad and failed to allege specific allegations, most importantly the failure to reference any cellphone, tablet or computer possessed by the suspect. That does not meet requirements for probable cause and taints other searches in the cases, the motion reads.
Eric Nelson, a Minneapolis criminal defense attorney, said it’s not a frivolous argument and the court “should ultimately chew on it” and analyze the data that was requested.
“I think the distinction on whether or not the motion has merit depends upon what they were specifically asking the cell providers to give them,” Nelson said. “Was it specific to one individual and one phone number or was it broader and capturing anybody who might be in there?”
Morton County prosecutors did not return a phone message seeking comment.
The attacks began about 7:30 a.m. on April 1, when four employees arrived at work early for their “coffee club” meeting. The victims were RJR co-owner Robert Fakler, 52; employee Adam Fuehrer, 42; and married co-workers Lois Cobb, 45, and William Cobb, 50. A police affidavit says Fakler was stabbed and cut multiple times. Fuehrer and the Cobbs were all stabbed and shot, and Lois Cobb’s neck was cut.
Robert Fakler’s wife, Jackie, the co-owner of the business, has said she has no clue why the four employees were attacked.
Police said they found spent shell casings, a knife with a bent tip and gun parts in a kitchen freezer at Isaak’s house, all smelling of chlorine bleach allegedly used to cover up the crimes.
Defense attorneys in a separate filing asked that his trial be moved from Morton County due to pretrial publicity. “Mr. Isaak can hardly enjoy an impartial and fair trial when already convicted by the media as a ‘mass murderer’ to the Morton County public,” the motion reads.
A Moorhead, Minn., man driving a car rented in the state of Washington was arrested Tuesday when police say they found hashish wax and more than 15 pounds of marijuana that was packaged and ready for sale in the vehicle.
A Burleigh County deputy sheriff stopped Bradley Neilan, 29, on Interstate 94 between Sterling and Driscoll for speeding and a signal violation, according to an affidavit. The deputy searched the vehicle when he noticed the smell of marijuana coming from the car.
Neilan told police that suitcases in his trunk were empty and he planned to use them to take his belongings back to Washington, the affidavit states. The search revealed 15 grams of hashish wax and 15 ½ pounds of marijuana, which police say had labeling consistent with that used in marijuana dispensaries. Police also say they found two loaded handguns, four amphetamine capsules and $592 in cash.
The use of a rental car, Neilan’s travel route from the West Coast to the Midwest, the presence of weapons and the amount of marijuana in his possession are indicative of drug trafficking and sales, the affidavit alleges.
Neilan made his initial appearance Wednesday in South Central District Court. He is charged with three counts of drug possession, two of which are felonies.
No attorney is listed for him in court documents. Judge Pamela Nesvig set his bail at $5,000 cash. He is being held at the Burleigh Morton Detention Center.
A Bismarck man is accused of inappropriately touching a girl and then committing sexual acts on an unconscious woman after the two adults drank vodka until the woman passed out, according to a police affidavit.
Peter McKing, 62, is charged with two counts of felony gross sexual imposition. One charge alleges the victim was a child under the age of 15; the other alleges the victim was unaware.
McKing was arrested Nov. 6 after police were called to a hospital to investigate a sexual assault. The girl told police she and the woman were at McKing’s residence, where the two adults drank vodka until the woman passed out. McKing started touching the girl, the affidavit alleges, but she moved away and unsuccessfully attempted to wake the woman for help.
The girl told police she pretended to go to sleep, then witnessed McKing committing sexual acts on the woman. The woman later told police she did not consent to any type of sexual contact or act and didn’t recall what happened from the time she reached McKing’s residence until she awoke in the hospital.
McKing denied having sex with the woman, according to the affidavit. He was being held in the Burleigh Morton Detention Center in lieu of $50,000 cash bail. No attorney was listed for him in court documents.
A judge on Tuesday modified one of seven charges against a Bismarck woman who allegedly possessed drugs in jail and is accused of injuring two correctional officers who attempted to search her.
The action reduces by five years the potential maximum sentence for Jessica Broom, 31, should she be convicted. She pleaded not guilty Tuesday and is scheduled for trial Feb. 20, 2020, on three felony drug charges, two felony assault charges, a felony for tampering with evidence and a misdemeanor drug ingestion count.
Broom resisted the officers as she was being searched on Sept. 21 at the Burleigh Morton Detention Center, authorities allege. One officer suffered a knee injury and a concussion, and the other sought medical attention for a strained back, the affidavit states.
Broom during the course of her search “took a defensive stance” and swung at an officer, Deputy Burleigh County Sheriff Taylor Wray said. The officer fell and suffered a knee injury and a concussion.
Defense attorney Kent Morrow said the swing Broom attempted did not connect or cause “serious bodily injury,” and he asked that the two assault charges against his client be dismissed.
Assistant Burleigh County State’s Attorney Tessa Vaagen said that if it hadn’t been for Broom’s actions, none of the injuries would have occurred, and that a concussion “generally fits that bill” of serious bodily injury.
“It may not have been intentional, but it was done recklessly and willfully,” she said.
South Central District Judge Pamela Nesvig agreed in part with each attorney and modified one assault charge against Broom from a B felony to a C felony.
A Bismarck woman who allegedly used fraudulent letters from government organizations, some with a forged signature of a South Central District judge, to convince people to give her thousands of dollars pleaded not guilty Tuesday and will go to trial in February.
Autumn Morrell, 32, is charged with three counts of theft and three counts of forgery, all Class A felonies, court documents show. That level of felony carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
South Central District Judge Pamela Nesvig scheduled a two-day trial starting Feb. 19, 2020.
Morrell is accused of using fake letters from government entities -- some containing a forged signature of Judge Cynthia Feland -- signing a $400,000 promissory note to one victim and using other fake documents to swindle victims out of more than $800,000, police say.
Morrell’s attorney, Amy Pikovsky, declined comment.
A Bismarck man arrested for allegedly masturbating in a hospital waiting room was sentenced Tuesday to serve another 1 1/3 years in prison.
Randall Stenerson, 63, a registered lifetime sex offender with multiple convictions dating to 1977, was arrested in February by officers who responded to a call about a man masturbating at the hospital waiting room, according to a police affidavit. A nurse reportedly saw Stenerson masturbating in the third floor waiting area.
Stenerson entered into a plea agreement in July on a felony count of indecent exposure. Defense attorney Matt Arthurs and prosecutors discussed a 1 ½-year sentence to run concurrent with time Stenerson is presently serving on a probation revocation, but Assistant Burleigh County State’s Attorney Anna Argenti made a different recommendation Tuesday based on information she saw in the presentence investigation report.
Stenerson has had multiple indecent exposure charges in North Dakota, and he admitted in the report that he “liked to catch unsuspecting females” off-guard, according to Argenti.
“I don’t feel society needs to be subject to this behavior,” she said. Stenerson’s sentence should run consecutively, after the sentence he is currently serving, she told South Central District Judge Daniel Borgen.
Stenerson said the time for him to change “was a long time ago” but he failed. He is in substance abuse and sex offender treatment now and told Borgen he’s “tired of appearing in court and being locked up.”
Stenerson’s record is “a troubling situation for the court to look at,” Borgen said. He sentenced Stenerson to two years behind bars, to be served at the same time as his present sentence.
Borgen agreed with Arthurs that Stenerson should receive credit for 258 days served since his arrest in February. Arthurs requested the 1 ½-year concurrent sentence that was arranged earlier, saying Stenerson is getting treatment, is recovering and likely won’t reoffend.
“History doesn’t bear that out,” Borgen said.
Court records show the judgment handed down Tuesday was the seventh count of indecent exposure in four cases for which Stenerson has been punished in North Dakota.
A man accused of breaking into a Bismarck motel room with a woman has been scheduled for trial by a judge who rejected a defense argument that the alleged act doesn't fit the description of burglary in state law.
Samuel Robertson, 31, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to felony burglary and misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and theft of services. He and Anastasia Seewalker, 28, were arrested in mid-October after police say the two used an emergency entrance to gain access to a poolside room at the Days Inn, where they used the bed and the shower.
Seewalker did not appear in court Tuesday. South Central District Judge Pamela Nesvig issued a warrant for her arrest.
Police Officer Joshua Dietrich testified Tuesday that Seewalker fled the room when a motel employee entered. The employee checked on the room because the blinds were shut and should be open when a room is vacant. The two were identified on surveillance video, and Robertson was arrested later.
The motel room wasn’t the “dwelling of another” as outlined in state law, said Justin Balzer, Robertson's attorney. He asked Nesvig to dismiss the burglary charge.
Special prosecutor Wayne Goter countered that Robertson and Seewalker “clearly entered the room illegally,” didn’t pay for the room and also damaged the sliding door to gain entrance.
Nesvig found there was probable cause to move the case to trial and set the date for Feb. 26, 2020.
A Bismarck man accused of sexually assaulting a young girl and giving her a venereal disease will go to trial in February.
Paxton Heywood, 21, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to gross sexual imposition. South Central District Judge Pamela Nesvig set a trial date of Feb. 26, 2020.
An adult family member met with police in February after the girl’s diagnosis. The charges against Heywood stem from an investigation that included a forensic interview, according to a police affidavit.
Court documents show several cases pending against Heywood, including an open felony drug case in McLean County, a 2016 aggravated assault charge in Burleigh County, misdemeanor drug charges in Burleigh County and a misdemeanor assault charge in McLean County. He is in the custody of the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
