Man who sparked northern Minnesota manhunt convicted in brutal slaying of wife
Eric Reinbold (Minnesota BCA)
THIEF RIVER FALLS, MInn. (FOX 9) - A man who sparked a multi-week-long manhunt last summer in northern Minnesota has been convicted of murder in the gruesome slaying of his wife.
A jury found Eric Reinbold guilty on two counts of murder on Friday for the deadly stabbing of his wife Lissette on July 9.
Last year, on July 9, investigators said Lissette was found dead by her children in the driveway of their home near Thief River Falls, in rural Pennington County. Authorities say Lissette had been stabbed 27 times and left to die by Reinbold.
A criminal complaint alleged that Reinbold was upset because he suspected his wife was seeing another man. At the time of the killing, Reinbold was staying in a camper down the road from his wife's home.
After the death, the search for Reinbold sparked panic in quiet, rural northern Minnesota, with authorities unable to find Reinbold -- and concerned because he had a criminal record for building bombs.
Reinbold wasn't caught until nearly a month after the killing, when he was arrested on August 4 after being spotted on a trail cam off County Road 1 near his parent's home.
Prosecutors say it took four hours for jurors to reach the verdict. Because of aggravating factors in the murder, Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office prosecuted the case, says they will seek a stricter sentence for Reinbold. A hearing on the upward departure from the sentence will be held at a future date.