Star Tribune
Minnesota sculptor’s will in question after appeals court finds fraud evidence
A beloved Mankato-area sculptor’s will leaving everything to his former assistant is in doubt after a court ruling released Monday found his signature may have been forged.
The Minnesota Court of Appeals last month reversed a District Court decision not to reopen legal matters over Arnold Lillo’s estate after his children brought forth evidence the notary, a Good Thunder city official, lied about being present when Lillo signed it.
His will left his home and metal shop to Robyn Block, the woman who worked under him for years, according to a will dated and signed in early December of 2021. Lillo died later that month at age 83 on Christmas Day from COVID complications, several weeks after he was assaulted with a hammer by Block’s former boyfriend, Brandon McMurtrey.
“We’re happy with the decision and we will be pursuing our clients’ interest,” said Jason Raether, one of the lawyers representing Lillo’s children Mark Lillo and Tammy Jo Klahn.
Steven Fink, attorney for Robyn Block, did not respond to multiple attempts for comment Monday.
Arnold Lillo was an attraction in Good Thunder who drew hundreds of visitors to his home each year to see the metal works he created, from the piece he said was the world’s largest working gun to the model Eiffel Tower he built for his ailing wife almost a decade ago.
At the time of the Nov. 10 hammer attack, Block was avoiding McMurtrey because of his abusive behavior and threats he made against her and Lillo, according to court records. A police report states McMurtrey went to Lillo’s house to speak to him, then hit him while his back was turned.
McMurtrey ended up pleading guilty to felony first-degree assault under an Alford plea, meaning he maintained his innocence but acknowledged there was ample evidence to convict him. He was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison in August of 2022.
Lillo told local media outlets shortly after he was attacked he had hoped Block would take over his metal studio. Since his death Block has turned the space at Lillo’s home into a museum honoring his work, as well as helping to finish several pieces Lillo had started, including a sculpture of the Great Lakes.
Block in January 2022 began court proceedings to take over Lillo’s estate, including about $280,000 in real estate assets, a $25,000 promissory note from Block and three vehicles with unknown values. Lillo’s children had no objections at the time; Block filed to close the estate that September.
But Lillo’s children motioned to contest the will toward the end of 2022 after they discovered the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office had looked into Lillo’s will. The District Court last year declined to reopen legal proceedings in the estate, arguing too much time had passed and reopening the estate would be unduly biased against Block.
The Appeals Court disagreed, ruling on Feb. 22 the estate should be reopened.
Court records show a relative approached investigators concerned Lillo’s signature on the will didn’t match his handwriting, among other issues.
According to an investigative report, Block told police she and Lillo had signed the will in the presence of Good Thunder City Clerk Ashney Helleksen and another friend.
Helleksen told police the same thing but later recanted her story in an email to an investigator, saying Block had brought documents with Lillo’s signature for her to notarize and that Helleksen had never been to Lillo’s house. The investigative report states Helleksen told police Block had previously asked her to lie about being present at the time.
Block stuck to her story when confronted by investigators, according to a court report, but also said she had memory issues stemming from past trauma and a brain injury she suffered in 2013.
The investigator recommended felony aggravated forgery charges be filed, but the Blue Earth County Attorney’s Office declined to pursue the case.
“Mourning Passage” – a list of the names of people killed by police that is repainted on the street annually – would remain, though slightly north of its current location.
While calling the square “a sacred place,” the city would restore vehicular access to the neighborhood’s numerous driveways, garages and alleys, with full access for transit, emergency vehicles and deliveries. But traffic would be calmed with curb extensions, raised trail crossings, a raised intersection and wider sidewalks.
The report acknowledges “emotion” over the city leading the work at the square, with some saying there weren’t enough Black voices involved. Some critics want to see more progress toward protesters’ original 24 “demands for justice,” which include requiring police officers to maintain private liability insurance and firing some leaders of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, before development proceeds, particularly at the People’s Way.
A community-led town hall meeting will be held to discuss an alternative plan on Nov. 6 at Calvary Lutheran Church. Residents say they will urge the city to halt its plan and instead focus on a proposal on health care and housing, saying they want the city to ensure any development honors the legacy of Black lives taken by police violence and the trauma the neighborhood has endured.
Alexander Kado, senior project manager in charge of George Floyd Square, said the city is still taking feedback on the report. There was a public open house dinner dialogue Tuesday night.
Details of the plans include:
Hennepin County has fast-tracked the creation of a youth behavioral health crisis stabilization center in Minneapolis as pressure mounts to help kids with complex mental health needs who are stuck in emergency rooms and detention centers.
County commissioners unanimously signed off Tuesday on a $15 million plan to open the center, as well as an up to $7 million annual agreement for provider Nexus Family Healing to operate the 10- to 15-bed crisis residential program for kids.
“This is long overdue,” County Administrator David Hough said. While the county hopes state lawmakers will address broader youth mental health needs, he added that the county has to act, “because if we don’t, it’s not going to be done for some time.”
He hopes the facility can start operating in three to six months, and said it will serve Hennepin County children and potentially some kids from other counties.
The new center will focus on a gap in services for kids who need short-term residential treatment to stabilize their behaviors while a support plan is created for them. Those kids are often stuck in juvenile detention centers or emergency rooms. Others remain at home with family members who aren’t equipped to meet their intense needs or have to leave the state to get help.
Hennepin County’s crisis stabilization center will include three key services:
Kids will likely stay at the short-term facility for a maximum of 30 to 45 days, said Leah Kaiser, the county’s behavioral health director.
The center will be located on two floors of a building at 1800 Chicago Ave., in Minneapolis, where the county currently offers walk-in mental health and substance use disorder support for adults.
Star Tribune
While some stress as Nov. 5 approaches, many Americans remain hopeful about the election
The early voters arrived at their polling place in a clatter of skateboard wheels and excited chatter.
Tucking their boards under their arms, they nodded to election judge Beatrice Owen and headed in to cast their vote.
It was a small moment, but it made her smile. She holds on to the memory, one of her favorite Election Day recollections, on the long days she and other members of the League of Women Voters spend registering voters and the even longer nights at candidate forums for lesser-known races you have to flip your ballot over to see.
“This is your country,” said Owen, president of the League of Women Voters of St. Paul. Voting, she said, is a responsibility and a civic duty.
In an election cycle churning with anxiety, stress and rage, Owen still sees Minnesotans approaching the ballot box with all the hope and enthusiasm of a first-time voter on a skateboard.
“I think, overall, people are kind of excited,” she said. Excited enough to research the constitutional amendments on this year’s ballot, excited enough to read up on the down-ballot judicial candidates, excited enough to walk up to a League of Women Voters booth at an event and learn more. “It’s like they’re saying ‘I’m taking responsibility for my country.’ I think that reflects in a positive, upbeat attitude.”
Hearing about positive, upbeat voters is a pleasant change from news of a stressed-out, doomscrolling electorate lying awake at night wondering what is going to happen to those of us on Donald Trump’s ever-growing enemies list.
The 2024 presidential election is tying us in knots. The American Psychological Association’s annual Stress in America report finds stressed, anxious nation where politics is fraying families and fueling fears about the nation’s very future.
