Star Tribune
Edina family that lost loved one blesses merciful plea deal for driver who made a ‘tragic mistake’
An Edina family that lost a loved one in a multi-vehicle crash is giving its blessing to a proposed merciful sentence for the woman whose “tragic mistake” caused the deadly wreck on a southern Minnesota interstate.
Kaytlen P. Greenlee, 25, of Adams, Minn., and the Rice County Attorney’s Office reached a plea agreement this week that spares her a likely four-year sentence under state guidelines, which would have meant about 2 2⁄3 years in prison.
And those closest to Michael Rae Bendel-Stenzel, the 55-year-old man who died in the crash in September 2020, say they are content with the potential consequences for Greenlee, who will hear on July 21 whether Judge Jeffrey Johnson agrees and imposes the terms of the plea deal. Johnson said in court Wednesday that he was likely to adopt the the agreement as crafted.
In a statement released Thursday, the family said Bendel-Stenzel’s death “has been a tremendous loss to the family, but they do not see the need to ruin the defendant’s life as well. It was a tragic mistake on [Greenlee’s] part, but we support the county attorney’s work on the plea agreement in the case.”
Rather than prison for her guilty pleas to criminal vehicular homicide on the basis of gross negligence and criminal vehicular operation, Greenlee agreed to serve 30 days of electronic home monitoring every August during her five years of probation.
County Attorney Brian Mortenson said cases such as these require prosecutors to weigh the victim or their family’s wishes vs. an uncertain result from a trial.
“The outcome [in this case] is appropriate in light of the circumstances,” said Mortenson, who cautioned that violating the terms of the probation would risk Greenlee being sent to prison.
“I thought it was very merciful” how the family took into account the fate of the driver who was responsible, Mortenson added.
Cases of criminal vehicular homicide are more commonly filed in Minnesota when drug use, drunkenness or distracted driving are involved. There was no evidence of those factors in connection with this crash, according to the County Attorney’s Office.
According to court documents and the State Patrol:
Late in the afternoon on Sept. 25, 2020, Greenlee was heading south in her SUV on I-35 about 7 miles west of Northfield, and failed to obey signs warning drivers of the road work ahead and that traffic ahead was stopped or slowed.
Greenlee hit Bendel-Stenzel’s Mini Cooper, setting off a chain reaction that involved two more vehicles.
Greenlee said she tried to slow down, but an analysis of her SUV’s “black box” showed it was traveling at least 74 miles per hour in a 70 mph zone and the brakes were not applied during any of the final 8 seconds before impact.
Bendel-Stenzel’s wife, 56-year-old Ellen Bendel-Stenzel, and their 23-year-old son, Linus Bendel-Stenzel, were passengers in the compact car, which ended up on its side and on fire. She suffered broken ribs and a tear in her thoracic aorta that required emergency surgery. Their son was cut and bruised.
Greenlee’s passenger, 28-year-old Megan R. Koch, of Austin, Minn., survived her injuries. The two were on their way back from a visit to the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley.
The drivers in the other vehicles and one passenger were not hurt.
The Bendel-Stenzels were heading to Iowa to see their daughter, Lilly, according to Michael Bendel-Stenzel’s obituary.
Michael Bendel-Stenzel received a degree in 1992 from the University of Minnesota Medical School. He later became an associate professor of pediatrics at the university.
Since 2008 until his death, he worked at Minneapolis Children’s Hospital as a hospitalist, where “he was known for his wide array of bow ties and his knowledge, skill and kindness to his patients and their families,” the obituary read.
Four days before his death, the Bendel-Stenzels bought a home in Rochester, where Ellen joined the Mayo Clinic as a neonatologist.
The Lynx are in the hot seat.
The team lost Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night 77-80, setting the stage for a decisive match at Target Center on Friday night. Fans in the arena reacted with resounding disappointment after Sabrina Ionescu sunk a three-pointer to break away from the tie game and dashed the Lynx’s chance at forcing overtime.
Before we get to the reactions, first things first: The Lynx set an attendance record, filling Target Center with 19,521 spectators for the first time in franchise history. That’s nearly 500 more than when Caitlin Clark was in town with the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Despite leading by double digits for much of the game, the Lynx began the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Liberty and struggled to stay more than two or three points ahead throughout.
The Liberty took the lead with minutes to go in the fourth quarter and folks were practically despondent.
Of course, there were people who were in it solely for the spectacle. Nothing more.
The Lynx took a commanding lead early in the first quarter and ended the first half in winning position, setting a particularly jovial mood among the fanbase to start the game.
Inside Target Center, arena announcers spent a few minutes before the game harassing Lynx fans — and Liberty fans — who had not yet donned the complementary T-shirts draped over every seat.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
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