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Hugo man charged with murder after mother’s death
Prosecutors charged 45-year-old Trevor Joseph Wunderlich with second-degree murder in the death of his 68-year-old mother, Charlene Gail Wunderlich.
HUGO, Minn. — The man who was the “person of interest” in the north metro search Monday night was charged Thursday morning in the murder of his mother.
Prosecutors charged 45-year-old Trevor Joseph Wunderlich with second-degree murder in the death of his 68-year-old mother, Charlene Gail Wunderlich.
According to court documents, Washington County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call from a home in the 15000 block of Ingersoll Ave. at approximately 5:55 p.m. on Sept. 16.
Dispatchers said they “could hear noises on the line consistent with an ongoing assault or struggle.”
When deputies arrived they found Charlene Gail Wunderlich on the kitchen floor severely injured, according to the criminal complaint. Deputies tried to “detain the defendant, but he ran into the basement of the home and fled out a rear door.”
Charlene Gail Wunderlich told the deputies that her son beat her before she lost consciousness. She was rushed to the hospital but died from her injuries.
Law enforcement agencies across the metro launched a manhunt for Wunderlich. Sheriff’s officials warned the public not to approach him as he was considered dangerous.
Just before 11 a.m. Tuesday, a resident in the 9800 block of 152nd St. N saw a man matching Wunderlich’s description in their trailer. KARE 11 spoke to the woman who owns the trailer, and she says her dogs were growling at the trailer, and when she opened the door Wunderlich was sleeping inside.
The woman said she screamed to her son who was working on the property to call 911. Her son had a brief conversation with Wunderlich and then Wunderlich ran down the road with no shoes to another property where, according to officials, police arrested him.
According to court documents, in 2021 Wunderlich was sentenced to 203 days in prison for violating a domestic abuse no-contact order. While serving that sentence, he was convicted of fourth-degree assault against a correctional officer.
The investigation showed that beyond purchasing the AirTag, Blackey had multiple photos on his iPhone showing private information.
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis Police Department sergeant is facing several charges after he allegedly stalked and harassed one of his fellow MPD sergeants.
According to the charging documents, the victim learned she was being tracked by an AirTag through a notification on her daughter’s phone on March 18.
The pair searched the car for the tracking device and eventually found it in a vehicle’s wheel well, according to the document.
The AirTag was linked to a phone number the woman recognized as Gordon Leanoard Blackey’s phone, according to prosecutors.
When the woman allegedly confronted Blackey, he said he placed the tracker on her car because he “cared about her,” according to the charging documents. She chose not to pursue further action against Blackey at that time.
Court documents said the woman had previously been in a “brief romantic relationship” with Blackey, about one year before the AirTag was discovered.
On April 30, Blackey allegedly asked the woman out for a drink, which she declined. Later that evening when the woman was out with her friends at a Blaine restaurant, she told investigators she unexpectedly noticed Blackley inside the restaurant.
The incident in Blaine reminded the woman of previous instances when Blackey appeared at events unannounced or appeared to have intimate knowledge about the details of her life, said the charges.
On May 7, the woman reported the incidents to her police department and contacted the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office to request an investigation and possible criminal charges against Blackey.
The investigation showed that beyond purchasing the AirTag, Blackey had multiple photos on his iPhone showing another individual’s private information.
Prosecutors said the images on Blackey’s phone were later confirmed to include information about the victim, her father and one of her coworkers. Those pictures were obtained using a state database accessible to police officers, according to the charging document.
Blackey admitted to tracking the victim’s vehicle on multiple occasions and using his police access to obtain private information about the victim’s father and coworker without a law enforcement purpose.
“I am, of course, very concerned about the charges, but I’ll refrain from commenting further to maintain the integrity of the criminal legal process,” said MPD Chief Brian O’Hara in a statement.
Blackey was charged Wednesday with one count each of harassment and unauthorized use of a tracking device; and two counts of unauthorized acquisition of non-public data.
The police department confirmed Blackey is still a current employee with the city, but they did not clarify in what capacity.
Officials say 79-year-old Charles J. Finck of Elk River was piloting a single-engine Piper Cherokee when it went down near Wayne, Nebraska.
OMAHA, Neb. — Bad weather was reported near two Nebraska farm fields where small planes crashed minutes apart in August, according to preliminary reports from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The two crashes happened on Aug. 26, about 45 miles apart, and within 50 minutes of each other, the Omaha World-Herald reported Thursday. While the NTSB reports don’t yet cite a probable cause in either crash, both reports include witness accounts of low clouds and bad weather.
Joseph Rudloff, 73, of Norfolk, Nebraska, died when his single-engine plane, a two-seat RANS S19, crashed at 8:41 a.m. near the town of Crofton. At 9:31 a.m., a single-engine Piper Cherokee piloted by 79-year-old Charles J. Finck of Elk River, Minnesota, crashed near Wayne, Nebraska.
No one else was aboard either plane beyond the pilots.
Rudloff’s obituary described him as “an avid flier” who died after his plane was engulfed in thick fog. The NTSB report said that 11 minutes before the crash, he called a pilot friend saying he was over Yankton, South Dakota, but unable to land there because of poor weather. Yankton was seeing fog and light rain at the time.
Rudloff’s friend suggested he fly to an airport in Nebraska. Rudloff’s plane hit the ground near Crofton in the far northeastern corner of Nebraska.
That same morning, a landowner near Wayne heard an engine revving on a plane that turned out to be Finck’s. The landowner then heard a pop sound and saw a black plume of smoke coming from his cornfield. He told investigators that clouds were near the ground when he heard the plane fly by. Rain also was falling.
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Stillwater Correctional Facility on lockdown after staff exposed to an unidentified substance
Officials told KARE 11 that “several staff were taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution.”
BAYPORT, Minn. — The Stillwater Correctional Facility was placed on temporary lockdown Thursday after staff members were exposed to an unidentified substance.
Minnesota Department of Corrections Director of Communications, Shannon Loehrke, told KARE 11 that “several staff were taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution. The facility is on a temporary lockdown.”
The Minnesota Department of Corrections said an investigation is ongoing and they will provide more details as they become available.
No further information has been released.
