Engelbrecht

NEW ULM — After five and a half days of jury selection, the jury trial for a 60-year-old St. James man accused of murder began in Brown County District Court Monday.

Scott F. Engelbrecht is accused of murdering his wife and stepdaughter and assaulting his stepgrandson with a dangerous weapon. Engelbrecht allegedly fatally shot his wife Joyce A. Engelbrecht, 67, during an argument in their home. He then allegedly followed his stepdaughter, Rachel E. Linder, 43, and shot her to death, June 16, 2018.

Engelbrecht is also accused of pointing a .22 caliber rifle at his stepgrandson Dillion Mathias, 21, who then ran into the basement, locked himself in a bathroom and called 911.

Engelbrecht faces two felony first-degree felony premeditate murder charges, two second-degree murder with intent charges and a second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon charge.

A 10-day jury trial with nine female and four male jurors is scheduled through Nov. 8. Engelbrecht is held in the Brown County Jail on $4 million bail.

The jury trial was moved to Brown County from Watonwan County because Judge Stephen J. Ferrazzano II granted a change of venue after Engelbrecht’s lawyers argued that extensive media coverage would make it hard to find unbiased jurors in Watonwan County.

In her opening argument, Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Erin R. Eldridge said Engelbrecht shot his wife in the head, then chased down his stepdaughter and shot and killed her.

“This is a case about control and murder on the day the family got together for an anniversary dinner,” Eldridge said. “Joyce gave Scott an anniversary card but he gave her nothing, failing to recognize the anniversary at all, and an argument began. Evidence will show Engelbrecht’s grandson Dillion Mathias was in the house at the time when the fight began. He’ll tell you he heard a thud and heard his mom say ‘you shot her, you bastard,’ so Dillion got his taser, went upstairs and saw Scott holding a rifle and his grandmother on the floor bleeding.”

Eldridge said Engelbrecht then hunted his stepdaughter Rachel Linder down and shot her three times, then left her dead on a neighbor’s porch.

Public defender Ryan S. Drea said in his opening statement that life doesn’t come with a user’s manual. He said Scott Engelbrecht just wanted to sleep when he got home from work after rising at 5 a.m. to go to work on June 16.

“Joyce was angry. She made him a special meal, and an argument started. Joyce saw how sick Scott was and told him he was burning up. She got him some cold medicine and he fell asleep,” Drea said. “Then his grandson [Mathias] told him to get up. He was confused, groggy and sick. Ladies and gentlemen, the judge told you to have no reasonable doubt that Scott Engelbrecht committed these murders. Reasonable doubt is the amount of such proof a normal person would use to make normal decisions. Reasonable doubt doesn’t mean the complete absence of doubt. If you see something that doesn’t add up, that’s reasonable doubt. The actions on June 16 were not premeditated, intentional murder.”

Eldridge said she believes Scott Engelbrecht confessed to the murders.

Mathias testified that he was “very close” to his grandmother, helping her with garage sales and helping her care for his great grandfather, Melvin Engelbrecht, who was in a wheelchair.

“We got along fairly well. Joyce and Scott argued a lot,” Mathias testified. “Joyce usually cooked for Scott and I when we got home from work. My grandmother gave Scott an anniversary card, he had forgotten, she got angry and they started arguing. She threw a phone at Scott. She was very, very mad. He was frustrated.”

Mathias testified that he went into the basement to watch television when he heard a loud thud upstairs and heard his mother screaming like she was in shock and scared.

“I grabbed my stun gun, went upstairs and saw Scott holding a gun in his hands. My grandmother was on the floor, twitching, with blood everywhere,” Mathias testified. “I yelled hey, he (Scott) turned and pointed the gun at me with both his hands. He could have easily pulled the trigger and shot me. I ran downstairs, locked myself in the bathroom and called 911.”

Mathias testified that when St. James Police Officer Jon LeClaire arrived, Mathias yelled to him that his grandmother was still in the house, breathing, and asked if they could get paramedics.

He testified that he later found his mother on a neighbor’s porch a couple houses away, and that his mother and grandmother both owned guns and got their gun permits together.

Mathias testified to Drea that he didn’t hear a gunshot when his grandparents were arguing.

He testified to Eldridge that he didn’t shoot his grandmother so he could inherit her estate.

LeClaire testified Scott Engelbrecht said “something to the effect that ‘I shot her’ or ‘I did it,’ put his hands together as if to be handcuffed, then reached into his pocked and took out .22 caliber bullets and dumped them on a driveway.

The jury trial continues at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

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