Star Tribune
No hunt for suspects after Blaine couple killed in SUV, guns taken from their home later that day
Law enforcement says it is pursuing no suspects in connection with either the shooting deaths of two people in the couple’s vehicle last week in Blaine nor the taking of dozens of guns from their home during an apparent ransacking.
Sarah Fay Gordon, 41, and longtime private security provider Daniel Joseph Seman, 66, were found by police around noon on March 27 in an SUV parked in an area of retail outlets in the 10700 block of NE. Town Square Drive.
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Tierney Peters repeated on Tuesday what she said in her statement a day after the bodies were located: “We are not looking for suspects related to the death investigation and there is no known threat to the public.”
Peters’ words echo what law enforcement routinely says in cases of suspected murder-suicide. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to release the cause and manner behind the deaths of Gordon or Seman.
As for the ransacking of the couple’s home and the guns being removed, Blaine Police Capt. Mark Boerboom said Tuesday that his department initially treated the case as a burglary but it now has ended its investigation into what he called “a civil issue.”
Boerboom would not specify what he meant by that characterization other than to say, “Maybe someone who had items there went to retrieve them.” He also declined to say the deaths and the entry into their Blaine home were connected.
Seman’s online résumé notes that he did work for the U.S. Marshals Service before owning one of the state’s largest private security firms, Avalon Fortress.
Before it filed for bankruptcy in 2009 and officially went out of business in 2014 after nearly 20 years, the business employed hundreds and over the years providing security to major events ranging from Minnesota Vikings games to the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul and the 2009 funeral for former Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad in the Basilica of St. Mary.
Gordon ran her own business as a professional organizer and home stager. She counted individuals, small businesses and corporations among her clients.
While the law enforcement spokespeople have chosen to shed little light on these two incidents, a search warrant affidavit filed by the Sheriff’s Office on Thursday offered some insight into both events. Neither Peters nor Boerboom discounted anything in the affidavit, which cleared the way for law enforcement to collect interior surveillance cameras, DNA, fingerprints, photos and gun paperwork from the home:
Blaine officers arrived at the vehicle, spotted Gordon and Seman dead inside, and saw that “early indications were that this was a likely murder-suicide, however the investigation is still in its early stages.”
The officers found a gun in the SUV that held five discharged shell casings. Detectives did not believe that all five bullets were fired from inside the vehicle.
Two detectives went to the couple’s home in the 11800 block of NE. Flanders Circle and “found things to be in order, the home was very clean, and no one was located in the home.”
Detective spoke with a friend of the couple, who said she would be letting the dogs out at the home and caring for them in wake of Gordon and Seman dying.
Nearly eight hours after detectives visited the home, she returned to the home to left the dogs out and found the residence had been ransacked. Officers arrived and spotted fresh footprints in the snow that led to a rear basement window, which had been broken out, allowing for entry.
Officers went inside and saw a gun room door with a biometric lock that had been kicked in. “About 50 guns had been stolen, [and] gun cases were strewn about the basement.”
Seman was known as an avid gun collector and had many valuable firearms. Also believed taken from the home were high-end bags, purses and luggage.
“We want to continue to be a welcoming, inclusive community,” Mayor Wendy Webstersaid. “And at the same time, we know we have a tremendous need for affordable housing.”
Webster and some on the council also said they were worried about project leaders not having immediate plans to build an outdoor playground, arguing that was a necessary amenity for children. And council members said the agreement must include plans to address the environmental condition on the site, which city leaders say has contamination issues.
“The thing I am most careful and concerned about is you are also buying a polluted piece of land. I want to make sure you are safe in your facilities,” Council Member Lona Doolan said, adding that “if it was any other property in our community, I wouldn’t have any hesitation or reservation.”
The council approved the rezoning request with several requirements, including that a playground be constructed within two years, and that the city receive plans for parking, staffing, and added landscaping, as well as environmental reports with proposals on addressing the pollution concerns.
Star Tribune
US confirms North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for training and possible Ukraine combat
WASHINGTON — The U.S. said Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops have deployed to Russia and are training at several locations, calling the move very serious and warning that those forces will be ”fair game” if they go into combat in Ukraine.
The deployment raises the potential for the North Koreans to join Russian forces in Ukraine and suggests expanded military ties between the two nations as Moscow seeks weapons and troops to gain ground in a grinding war that has stalemated after more than two years.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called it a ”next step” after the North has provided Russia with arms, and said Pyongyang could face consequences for aiding Russia directly. His comments were the first public U.S. confirmation of North Korea sending troops to Russia — a development South Korean officials disclosed but was denied by Pyongyang and Moscow.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. believes that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers traveled by ship to Vladivostok, Russia’s largest Pacific port, in early to mid-October.
”These soldiers then traveled onward to multiple Russian military training sites in eastern Russia, where they are currently undergoing training,” Kirby said. ”We do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military, but this is certainly a highly concerning probability.”
Kirby said they could go to western Russian and then engage in combat against Ukraine’s forces, but both he and Austin said the U.S. continues to assess the situation.
Exactly what the North Korean troops are doing in Russia was ”left to be seen,” Austin told reporters in Rome.
He added: ”If they’re co-belligerents, their intention is to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf, that is a very, very serious issue, and it will have impacts not only in Europe, it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific.”
A 36-year-old Alexandria man was sentenced to about four months in jail after pleading guilty to secretly recording employees at a hospital where he previously worked as a custodian.
Corey R. Johns was arrested in May 2023 and charged with one gross misdemeanor count of interfering with privacy. He pleaded guilty in June, and on Monday Douglas County Judge Michelle Clark sentenced Johns to 364 days in jail.
Johns will serve 120 days in the Douglas County Jail and have the remaining 244 days stayed for two years of probation. Clark also ordered Johns to attend a sex offender treatment program. He was ordered not work in a location where women routinely change clothes, possess pornographic material or have unsupervised contact with vulnerable adults or anyone under the age of 18.
According to the criminal complaint filed against Johns, Alexandria police responded to a call at Alomere Health in May 2023 after three female employees found a phone propped up by a shoe and pointed toward the changing area in a locker room. Before police arrived, Johns asked the women to give his phone back to him, the complaint states.
Johns told police he started recording employees in February and had also recorded in a co-ed locker room. At the jail, staff found a pen on Johns that he said was another type of recording device he had used, according to the complaint.
After the arrest, a spokesperson from Alomere Health said Johns was no longer affiliated with the organization.
“The safety and security of our staff has always been of the utmost importance. We are devastated that this has occurred and even the thought of this behavior by anyone is reprehensible,” the spokesperson said in a written statement. “The Alomere Health Human Resources team is working directly with employees who may have been impacted.”
