Man found stuffed into garbage can murder charges unsealed | FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul

Man found stuffed into garbage can murder charges unsealed

A Hennepin County grand jury has indicted a Minneapolis man on first and second-degree murder charges in the January 2024 murder of Reid Johnson, who was found shot to death, his body stuffed into a garbage can in the garage of a vacant home.

Reid Johnson murder

The backstory:

Reid Johnson was shot and killed a year ago – his body was stuffed into a garbage can in the detached garage of a vacant home on 30th Avenue North in Minneapolis.

A local real estate agent preparing to host a Sunday open house made the grisly discovery.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner determined Johnson was shot multiple times.

"It is just evil, evil. That is what I saw there, absolute evil," the realtor, Josh Fredrickson told FOX 9 at the time.

The 51-year-old Johnson was a father, who those close to him described as a beautiful person inside and out, but one who struggled with addiction.

"It is just a horrible thing to have happened to anybody to die and be put in a garbage can," the homeowner said soon after the discovery. "It is unbelievable. It is hard to think about."

Garbage can discovery shocked Minneapolis neighborhood

Dig deeper:

Court records indicate the grand jury indicted Miguel Araiza Ugalde last July.

Those charges were filed under seal with a judge signing a warrant for Ugalde’s arrest. Ugalde, 31, of Minneapolis, was arrested earlier this month. He made his first court appearance on the now unsealed charges on Wednesday.

The publicly released indictment does not provide any details about the murder or a possible motive, though the charges do allege Johnson was killed during an aggravated robbery attempt.

What's next:

Ugalde remains in custody in the Hennepin County Jail with bail set at $1.5 million.

His next scheduled court date in the case is Feb. 24.

The Source: Documents filed in Hennepin County and previous FOX 9 reporting.

Crime and Public SafetyMinneapolis