Burnsville Man Charged With Killing & Dismembering Elderly Mother
Burnsville, MN (KROC-AM News) - A second-degree murder charge has been filed against a Burnsville man accused of murdering and dismembering his elderly mother because she had become suspicious about his handling of her finances.
The criminal complaint filed against 56-year-old Troy Mitteness indicates Burnsville police were investigating him in a mail theft case when they came upon evidence that led to the homicide investigation. The charges say some of the proceeds from the mail thefts had been deposited into an account belonging to 82-year-old Sandra Mitteness, which prompted investigators to seek her out for questioning.
The court document says her son initially told police she was in South Dakota, but then stated that she had died in June of last year. The investigators located an obituary, but the funeral home listed in it denied ever providing any funeral-related services.
The Dakota County Attorney's Office eventually located the woman's car and preliminary testing found indications of the presence of blood in the trunk. That led to the execution of a search warrant at Mitteness's home, which uncovered blood evidence on the stairs inside the house and a mattress and box spring.
The criminal complaint says Miitteness later confessed to killing his mother on June 2 by stabbing her in the back with a large kitchen knife while she was in her bed. In his statement, Mitteness indicated he waited a couple of days before dismembering his mother's remains and dumping parts of her body in ditches and other locations while driving west of the Twin Cities towards Willmar.
Burnsville police investigators say Mitteness stated that he began researching online how to kill an elderly person without poison after he had spent all of his mother's money and she had become suspicious about her finances. His bail has been set at $2 million and his next court appearance is scheduled on July 20.
