FARIBAULT, Minn. (TCD) — A 32-year-old woman faces charges after allegedly fighting with and killing an elderly man with Parkinson’s dementia and trying to cover up his body.
According to a news release from the Rice County Attorney’s Office, on Feb. 5, Faribault Police conducted a welfare check on 76-year-old Gary Lehmeyer. At the scene, officers found that Lehmeyer had been repeatedly stabbed, strangled, and bound at the ankles. His body had also been wrapped with blankets, sheets, and a mattress pad.
The medical examiner determined the victim died of strangulation and multiple sharp force injuries, and his death was ruled a homicide, KMSP-TV reports.
Police reportedly found evidence of blood on the bedroom walls, as well as on the floor, and officers observed Lehmeyer’s vehicle was missing from the home.
Lehmeyer’s roommate, Arlene Bell, reportedly told officers she was at their home and heard something fall on the floor, and when she went to check on Lehmeyer in his room, she saw red bullets near his feet. According to the attorney’s office, Bell told police she didn’t notice any guns. She reportedly stated Lehmeyer wouldn’t allow her to leave the room, and they got into a physical fight even though Lehmeyer was disabled.
Bell allegedly stabbed her roommate multiple times and “used a knife to ‘saw at his wrists.'” The defendant reportedly told officials her roommate then “strangled her, threw a dehumidifier at her, and choked her with its cord.”
According to the attorney’s office, Bell said she cut the cord off the dehumidifier and noticed Lehmeyer was “bleeding profusely.” Moments before his death, he allegedly spat up blood. Afterward, Bell reportedly tied the victim’s feet together with the cord before wrapping his body because she was “afraid he would regain consciousness and kill her.”
The defendant then allegedly went through her roommate’s belongings. She told police she took a shower to clean off the blood, and she took the victim’s vehicle to drive toward the Mexico border.
An Iowa state trooper performed a traffic stop on Bell on Feb. 5 near Des Moines. According to the attorney’s office, the trooper believed she was under the influence of narcotics at the time and took her into custody. During a search of the vehicle, the trooper reportedly saw that the rear seats had been removed, and there was a mattress on the floor. There was also a glass pipe with methamphetamine residue, as well as a bag of syringes and Narcan, the attorney’s office said.
Bell admitted to the trooper she was coming down from a high after she had used meth for the past couple of days.
Iowa law enforcement officials learned later that afternoon that Faribault police were searching for Lehmeyer’s stolen vehicle, which Bell was driving.
Bell remains in custody in the Dallas County Jail on a count of motor vehicle theft, and her bond was set at $50,000.
Bell will be extradited in the coming days and can face charges of both theft and second-degree murder, according to the attorney’s office. The attorney’s office noted, “Minnesota law prohibits charging a suspect with first-degree murder absent a grand jury indictment.”
Bell has an extensive criminal history and had previously been charged with making terroristic threats, burglary, and harassment.
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