Star Tribune
Supreme Court reverses accomplice’s conviction in kidnapping, killing of Minneapolis real estate agent
A woman who received a life prison sentence without the possibility of parole for aiding the kidnapping and murder of a Minneapolis real estate agent is entitled to a new trial, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.
Elsa E. Segura’s conviction was reversed and remanded back to Hennepin County District Court but she currently remains incarcerated at the Shakopee women’s prison. Segura, 31, a former Hennepin County probation officer, was charged in the deadly 2019 New Year’s Day kidnapping of Monique Baugh, a 28-year-old mother of two young daughters.
A jury in 2021 convicted Segura on all aiding and abetting counts of premeditated first-degree murder, attempted premeditated first-degree murder, kidnapping and first-degree felony murder while committing kidnapping. Segura used a “burner” cellphone and alias to lure Baugh to a bogus home showing in Maple Grove. Two men kidnapped Baugh and tortured her for information on the whereabouts of her boyfriend, who had a previous falling out with one of the suspects.
In a 42-page opinion written by Justice Gordon Moore, he said the basis for Segura’s new trial hinged on insufficient evidence to convict her of aiding and abetting first-degree premeditated murder, or premeditated attempted murder. Moore also found erroneous jury instructions materially misstated the law and could have impacted the verdict.Justices Paul Thissen and Justice Barry Anderson wrote a separate 8-page opinion partially concurring and dissenting with Moore. Justice Karl Procaccini took no part in the decision.
In her appeal, Segura argued that the state failed to prove that she knew of the kidnapping-murder plot or that she intended to aid those crimes. “The central issue is what Segura knew when she scheduled the house showing with Baugh,” Moore wrote.
Moore said that Segura took part in the plan at the direction of her boyfriend Lyndon Wiggins, who also enlisted suspects Cedric Berry and Berry Davis. Like Segura, all men received life in prison without the possibility of parole.
There are reasonable possibilities, Moore wrote, that Segura believed “the end goal of Wiggins’ plan was some crime less serious than the murder of Baugh” and the father of her children, Jon Mitchell-Momoh.
Baugh’s boyfriend was in a business dispute with Wiggins over a record label contract. Evidence at Segura’s trial also showed that Wiggins accused Mitchell-Momoh of snitching on his drug trafficking. When Berry and David brought a duct-tape-bound Baugh to her Minneapolis home, Mitchell-Momoh was their watching their daughters. Baugh and Mitchell-Momoh were shot, but he survived.
“We reach out decisions in this difficult case with full recognition of the grievous loss suffered by Baugh’s family and the communities involved with this case, as well as the injuries inflicted on [Mitchell-Momoh],” Moore wrote.
District Judge Peter Cahill said at Segura’s sentencing that her role was lesser but still significant “because you could have stopped this from happening.” Baugh’s mother, Wanda Williams Baugh, said Segura “could have been a hero.”
Rain and potentially heavy snow are on tap Thursday around the Twin Cities, just before families set out for Halloween trick-or-treating.
Temperatures were expected to drop throughout the day, creating conditions for flurries. A winter weather advisory is in effect from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. covering the Twin Cities metro area and parts of south-central Minnesota. Steady rain drenched the Twin Cities on Thursday, making for a soggy morning commute.
“As colder air begins to move in this morning, the rain will transition to heavy snow from west to east with snowfall rates of an inch per hour at times into early afternoon,” the National Weather Service in Chanhassen said in a weather advisory.
The Twin Cities and surrounding areas could get between 2 and 4 inches of snow, according to the weather service. The winter weather advisory is expected to affect Anoka, Chisago, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Le Sueur counties.
It’s unclear how much of the snow will actually stick, with warm surface temperatures likely leading to melting on contact in many areas.
“Exact totals will depend on snowfall rate, surface temperatures, and melting — which increases uncertainty with the snow forecast,” the weather service said in an early Thursday briefing.
“Thundersnow possible!” the weather service emphasized.
The good news for Halloween revelers is that the snow and rain are expected to wrap up in time for trick-or-treating, though temperatures will remain in the 30s with a sharp windchill.
An off-duty Washington County sheriff’s deputy caused a head-on crash while under the influence of alcohol and injured a couple in the other vehicle, officials said.
The crash occurred about 10:40 a.m. Sunday in Afton on Hwy. 95 at Scenic Lane, the Minnesota State Patrol said.
Campbell Johnston Blair, 58, of Hastings, was heading north in his Subaru Crosstrek, crossed into the opposite lane and collided with a southbound Ford Expedition, the patrol said.
Blair and the other vehicle’s occupants, 38-year-old Erik Robert Sward and 36-year-old Heather Lynn Sward, both of Lake Elmo, were taken to Regions Hospital with non-critical injuries, according to the patrol.
The patrol noted the alcohol use by Blair was involved in the crash.
Blair, who was driving a private vehicle at the time of the crash while off-duty, has been a deputy with the Sheriff’s Office since 2020 and is currently assigned to our Court Security Unit.
The Sheriff’s Office has been asked for reaction to the crash involving one of its deputies.
ST. CLOUD – On Tuesday, St. Cloud voters will be asked to make decisions on a new fire station and moving city elections to odd years, and — for those who live in Stearns County — how to fund a new county jail.
Here’s a look at the three referendum questions that are on St. Cloud-area ballots this year.
Ballot question: “Shall Stearns County be authorized to impose a sales tax & use tax of three-eighths of one percent to finance up to $325 million, plus associated bonding costs, for the construction of a justice center facility, consisting of law enforcement, judicial center and jail? The sales tax would be used solely to finance construction, upgrades and financing costs for the justice center and remain in effect for 30 years or until the project is paid for, whichever comes first. These services and facilities are mandated by the state of Minnesota to be provided by counties.”
Stearns County officials are planning to build a new $325 million justice center complex that includes a 270-bed jail, a judicial center with courtrooms, and a law enforcement center that houses the Sheriff’s Office. In the summer, Stearns County board members voted to move those facilities out of downtown and to a new location with more space. That site has yet to be determined.
The question before voters is how to fund that center.
County Administrator Mike Williams said a common misconception he’s heard at recent town halls is residents think voting “yes” gives permission to the county to build the facility, and if they vote “no,” the county won’t spend the money to build it.
“People [think they] are voting on the project — and they’re not. They’re voting on how we are going to fund it,” Williams said.
If voters approve the ballot question, the county will impose a sales tax to fund the project. If they vote it down, the county can instead pay for the project with property taxes.