RANSOM COUNTY, N.D. — A Lisbon, North Dakota father has been convicted of killing his infant son. A jury found Byron Whetsel guilty of child neglect and murder following a 5-day trial in Ransom County. Court documents say Whetsel squeezed his 2-month-old son, broke the child’s ribs and neck and severely injured his brain. A medical examiner concluded all of…
A judge exceeded the recommended sentence for the last man accused in the bar beating death of Fargo man Joey Gaarsland. Scott Moen was given a 20-year sentence despite prosecution recommending 15 years. But family members say even that isn’t enough. “The man you followed, you hit him to the ground, stomped on his head over and over and watched…
The Lakeville man accused of killing a woman in Cass County in August has pleaded not guilty. Timothy Barr was in Cass County District Court and entered not guilty pleas to manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident involving death. The body of Michele Newell of Vadnais Heights was found in rural Cass County in December. She had…
A former Mercer County jailer, who shot up a hotel in western North Dakota,won’t serve any prison time. The judge gave 27-year-old Michael Peterson, of Hazen, a suspended sentence of one year at Friday’s hearing. Police say Peterson drunkenly fired a rifle about 32 times on February 28 at the Dakota Farms Inn in Beulah. No one was hurt. He…
The Fargo teen sentenced for attacking a woman at West Acres Mall pleads guilty to a sexual assault at Holiday Inn. Abdirahman Sahel, 18, changed his pleas to guilty for gross sexual imposition and terrorizing in Cass County District Court. Sahel was scheduled to stand trial tomorrow for sexually assaulting a woman in the Holiday Inn parking lot in 2013….
FARGO, N.D. A Fargo man will spend at least 15 years behind bars in the beating death of Joey Gaarsland. In May of 2015, 34-year-old Jason Oien was involved in a fight outside of Rick’s Bar. He and three other men allegedly beat Joey Gaarsland, causing his death. Oien plead guilty to manslaughter. Joey Gaarsland’s daughter, Ali Gaarsland, said she…
Another change in the sentencing date for a man who pleaded guilty in a bar beating death. Jason Oien’s attorney was unable to make it from Grand Forks to court in Fargo earlier this week and his sentencing date was rescheduled to February 6. But the attorneys and the judge have now agreed to sentence Oien on Friday. He changed…
A woman charged for her role in a drive-by shooting in north Fargo last April is sentenced. Katie Malaterre pleaded guilty in Cass County District Court to criminal conspiracy. The judge gave Malaterre supervised probation for two years. The shooter, Patrick Watson of West Fargo, was sentenced earlier to five years after pleading guilty to reckless endangerment. The drive-by shooting…
