Star Tribune
State Board of Pardons decides Mitchell Hamline law student can seek parole after 18 more years
An imprisoned Mitchell Hamline School of Law student lost her bid Thursday for a quick release from the Minnesota correctional facility in Shakopee.
In her comments to the state Board of Pardons, delivered via live video from prison, Maureen Onyelobi, 37, apologized to the victim’s family and sounded hopeful that she might get out soon, pledging to put her legal education to use helping others.
“No matter what the board decides today, I just want you to know I’m grateful and I will spend every day trying to make amends for my crime,” Onyelobi, convicted of aiding and abetting first-degree murder, told the board made up of Gov. Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea. It was Gildea’s final session before stepping down from the bench on Oct. 1.
The board unanimously agreed to reduce Onyelobi’s sentence from life without parole to life with the possibility of parole, making her eligible to be considered for release by the state Department of Corrections after 27 years in prison, provided she stays out of trouble.
Onyelobi has served nine years in prison, making her potentially eligible for consideration in another 18 years.
Weighing heavily against her imminent release was the gravity of her crime. Onyelobi was convicted in November 2014 in the death of Anthony Fairbanks. At trial, prosecutors claimed Fairbanks was a heroin addict. He was facing a federal drug indictment in North Dakota at the time of his death, but had yet to be apprehended, court records show.
His co-defendant on the indictment was Maurice Wilson, Onyelobi’s then-boyfriend. Wilson was in the Cass County jail at the time of the murder.
Prosecutors alleged that Onyelobi, Wilson and David Johnson regularly sold Fairbanks heroin. On the day of the murder, Wilson spoke to Onyelobi and Johnson on a recorded jail call about concerns that Fairbanks would be arrested and testify against him, putting him in prison for life. He repeatedly encouraged them to “take care of” Fairbanks so he couldn’t testify, court records show.
Onyelobi did not kill Fairbanks. But by her own admission, she was in the vehicle when Johnson shot him four times in the head. She also helped set up the fatal meeting with Fairbanks, then hid the murder weapon — a handgun — in her newly acquired storage locker, according to court records.
Onyelobi and her supporters said she was in an extremely abusive and violent relationship with Wilson and under his control.
Surviving members of Fairbanks’ family, including his mother and aunts, spoke to the board, saying that his birthday is Friday and he would have turned 33. The family opposed relief for Onyelobi, calling her a “cold-blooded murderer.” One aunt said, “My Anthony didn’t get a second chance, so why should she?”
Walz responded, “I’m deeply sorry that you have to relive this trauma.”
“Anthony Fairbanks’ life mattered,” Ellison said. “No matter what his circumstances were, he still had the possibility of doing great things in this world and that has been taken away from him.”
The attorney general told Onyelobi that given the gravity of her crime, “Your release anytime soon is not on the table for me.”
After Ellison’s statement, a male spectator stood up and loudly said, “Terrible process,” as he walked out of the room.
Ellison continued, saying that the person who didn’t pull the trigger, Onyelobi, shouldn’t be sentenced to longer than the one who did. Johnson is expected to be released in November 2040.
Walz noted that the judge and prosecutor on Onyelobi’s case also supported relief. “I do believe that the idea of life without the opportunity of parole is synonymous with a death penalty,” he said. “The loss of hope is a dangerous thing.”
Gildea, who wrote a Supreme Court decision upholding Onyelobi’s conviction in 2016, spoke briefly in support of the shorter sentence. “I appreciate so much the courage of the victim’s family,” and the steps Onyelobi took to improve herself, the chief justice said.
Wilson was convicted of first-degree murder after a trial in Hennepin County District Court and is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
“In here, it can be a very dark and lonely place, and it can be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Benson said. “Events like this just help keep that hope alive.”
While the incarcerated people listened, they were joined at tables by prison staff, guards, the warden, and others, including Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who stood against a brick wall. A couple of inmates, who work as photographers for the prison’s newspaper, strolled the cafeteria taking pictures.
When the performance went longer than expected, the warden smiled and gave the performers a thumbs up. He was fine with letting it continue. When it was done, the musicians took a handful of questions and signed flyers. Then inmates were guided back to their cells.
Hennepin County Board candidate Marisa Simonetti was arraigned in District Court on Thursday morning on a misdemeanor charge of 5th-degree assault after a dispute with a tenant of her Edina home.
Simonetti, who was arrested and jailed in June on allegations that she assaulted the tenant by throwing a live tarantula and other objects at the woman, stayed in the court hallway Thursday while her attorney John Daly handled the routine appearance. Simonetti was given a Jan. 9 pre-trial date and plans to plead not guilty.
Wearing a campaign T-shirt, Simonetti said after the court proceeding that she’s done nothing wrong and plans to fight the charge “to the death.”
Simonetti said her campaign for the District 6 seat is going well and that she sent out “a ton of texts” last week. “We’re getting feedback, positive feedback. It’s going to be very exciting to see what happens on Nov. 5,” she said.
An email to Simonetti’s opponent, Commissioner Heather Edelson, was not immediately returned Thursday.
In April, Simonetti came in second in a six-candidate special primary for an open seat on the board and then lost the special election Edelson, a DFLer and former state representative. Simonetti has campaigned as a Republican, although some local Republicans have since pulled their support for her.
The board oversees the county’s $2.7 billion budget and 10,000 employees. Commissioners earn $122,225 annually.
District 6, which covers cities including Edina, Hopkins, Mound, Minnetonka, Wayzata, Long Lake, Shorewood and the northern portion of Eden Prairie.
“I wanted to be just like him, to love every part of the competition, to be the first to show up and the last to leave, to love the grind, to be your best when you don’t feel your best and make other people around you the best version of themselves,” Ionescu said. “And to wake up and do it again the next day.”
In her final season with the Ducks, Ionescu became the first NCAA Division I basketball player to record more then 2,000 career points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds. She dedicated the performance that put her over the edge to Bryant. “That was for him,” she told ESPN.
“I can’t really put it into words,” Ionescu said. “He’s looking down and really proud of me and just really happy for this moment with my team.”
Ionescu is a menace from behind the 3-point line like Steph Curry, Luka Doncic and Caitlin Clark
Ionescu has made more three-pointers during the regular season than any other WNBA player in history.
Ionescu’s clutch three might give Minnesota basketball fans deja vu. It was reminiscent of the three-pointer Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks sank in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals to win that game 109-108 and put the Timberwolves on their heels. The Mavs ended up winning the series 4-1.
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