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.”
Twin Cities, get ready to potentially spot an ex on the Minneapolis season of Love Is Blind, which was officially announced Wednesday night.
The anticipated reunion episode that closed out season 7, set in Washington, D.C., included the surprise announcement. The eighth season will launch on Valentine’s Day.
“This Valentine’s Day 2025 will mark the five-year anniversary of the premiere of Love Is Blind, and it is going to be the launch of season 8, which takes place in Minneapolis,” host Vanessa Lachey said in a moment also posted to social media.
Three of the incoming Minneapolis singles were introduced in the reunion episode. When asked about the challenges of the dating scene in Minneapolis, one contestant shared a sentiment many Minnesotans will be familiar with.
“It’s such a small community, it’s not like a major city but it’s also not a small town. So you kind of see the same people over and over, and it’s a small bar scene,” he said.
Star Tribune
Long Prairie, MN school board dismisses its superintendent, the latest controversy in this small town
LONG PRAIRIE, MINN. — The school district superintendent dressed up as the school mascot, Thor, on football nights. He read the graduation address in both English and Spanish. He even set up office hours in the cafeteria, granting easier approachability to students.
But now, two months into the school year, Daniel Ludvigson is gone. Or, rather, “on special assignment,” according to the terminology of the Long Prairie-Grey Eagle School Board, which voted 4-3 earlier this month to remove him as superintendent. The move came weeks after voting to not renew his contract, which expires at the end of the school year in June.
Four board members — two of whom voted to oust Ludvigson, including Board Chair Kelly Lemke — are up for re-election next week.
The dismissal is the latest blow in this central Minnesota community on the edge of the prairie. Over the last nine months, the town of 3,400 residents and seat of Todd County has lost its mayor, a city manager, two school board members, and now its superintendent.
Students walked out earlier this month in support of Ludvigson. Signs in support of Ludvigson can be seen across town on the lawns of apparent Democrats and Republicans alike. And last week, hundreds packed the American Legion off Hwy. 71 to eat beef sandwiches and sign support letters for Ludvigson, who only swung by to pick up his child for hockey practice.
In a time of great divide in America, this fight has nothing to do with politics.
“You’ve got Harris buttons and Trump hats side-by-side, arm-in-arm,” said Amanda Hinson, a former local newspaper reporter who is concerned the board is not being upfront about why they placed Ludvigson on special assignment. “We want transparency in our government.”
Lawn signs around Long Prairie, Minn., now include people weighing in on the dismissal of Superintendent Daniel Ludvigson by the school board. (Christopher Vondracek)
School board members say Ludvigson has repeatedly shown he is not ready for the prime time of a school district bigger than the one in central North Dakota he arrived from two years ago. They have twice disciplined Ludvigson, but did not state the reason for placing him on “special assignment,” beyond insinuating that staff are fearful to raise official complaints.
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.
