Defense begins bringing witnesses to the stand in the trial for Sen. Nicole Mitchell

DETROIT LAKES, Minn. (KVRR) — It’s day two of testimony, and the prosecution has rested its case. A police officer testified that the victim, Carol Mitchell, had questions about what Nicole Mitchell had intended to do.

“She was very concerned that Nicole’s purpose wasn’t there to necessarily get items. She was more concerned, possibly, that Nicole might be trying to end Carol’s life,” said Doug Vickmark, officer for Detroit Lakes Police.

Officer Vickmark interviewed Carol Mitchell on April 25th, 2024, a couple of days after the burglary occurred. At the time, Mitchell was not living at her residence as she had stated the day before. Carol’s niece and power of attorney had been in contact with her and shared concerns of the strained relationship between her and Nicole.

“I don’t care if she gets that CD of Rod’s and there are two checks from Rod’s sister Laurie that passed away from her estate. Nik can have them but the house and everything else is mine and she will have to wait til I die for anything from that. But I am scared she has gotten so greedy,” said Pamela Muxfeldt, Niece of Carol Mitchell.

State’s attorney, Brian McDonald, presented photos of the window that he says Nicole Mitchell had broken to get inside the house. There was no clear indication of who may have cleaned up the area after the photos were taken.

The first witness for the defense was Jonathan Kuehl, the son of Carol Mitchell. Kuehl originally was a prosecution witness, but was never called to the stand. Kuehl had spoken with Nicole through text, where she shared her concerns about Carol’s health.

“She’s very functional, and the Alzheimer’s is there it’s slowly progressing. But if there’s trauma there was like the death of Rod was a huge and then you see the short-term memory, just it’s so difficult for her,” said Jonathan Kuehl, Son of Carol Mitchell.