Engelbrecht

ST. JAMES – A 10-day jury murder trial for 60-year-old St. James man accused of first and second-degree murder was moved from Watonwan County District Court to Brown County recently.

The motion for change of venue in the case against Scott F. Engelbrecht, 60, of St. James was recently granted by Watonwan County District Judge Stephen Ferrazzano. He ruled that potentially prejudicial material created a reasonable likelihood that a fair trail cannot be had.

Engelbrecht faces two felony first-degree premeditated murder counts, one second-degree murder count and felony assault with a dangerous weapon charges for allegedly fatally shooting Joyce Ann Engelbrecht, 67, in her St. James home last June, then following Rachel E. Linder, 43, outside and shooting her.

A 10-day trial is set to begin Monday, Oct. 28, and continue through Friday, Nov. 8 in Brown County District Court. A pre-trial hearing is set for 3 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the Watonwan County Courthouse in St. James.

In a memo filed June 14, Ferrazzano wrote that the St. James Plaindealer published 15 articles in its newspaper or on social media. Forty-four comments were posted by the articles and news reports contain allegations and assertions as fact and are especially prejudicial.

“The defendant argued that because of extensive media coverage, fundraisers for the family, community interest in the case, and vitriol expressed in social media, change of venue is the only option,” continued the memo. “The defendant presented a jury survey conducted by the National Jury Project that recommended any trial for this case be moved to a different county.”

While pretrial publicity does not always create a reasonable likelihood that a fair trial cannot be had, the content of the articles are more than factual in nature and contain implications of the defendant’s guilt, said the memo. The Court is satisfied that a fair and impartial trial cannot be had in Watonwan County, read the memo.

Ferrazzano denied a motion for suppression of incriminating statements Engelbrecht made to police after he was arrested. Engelbrecht’s lawyers led by Minneapolis attorney Ryan Drea argued that his Miranda rights were violated because no Miranda warning was given.

The memo read that in the Court’s examination of each individual interview, the testimony heard, and the arguments given by each party, it finds Engelbrecht’s statements to law enforcement are admissible, the interviews themselves were not extensive in length, the interrogation was not hostile or coercive, and Engelbrecht was not deprived of physical needs.

“It is apparent to the Court that Engelbrecht had the ability to comprehend and, in examining the totality of the circumstances, did validly waive his Miranda rights,” read the memo. “The State has met its burden in demonstrating the Defendant knowing and intelligently waiving his privilege against self-incrimination, and his statements were voluntarily given.”

Engelbrecht remains in custody in the Brown County Jail on $4,000,000 bail.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.