MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 25-year-old Cass Lake man was sentenced to nine years in prison on Monday for the attempted murder of a man whose wife he was infatuated with.
John Ernest Lutgen pleaded guilty on June 11 to third-degree attempted murder and first-degree burglary in connection with the Dec. 23, 2011 incident. According to charges, authorities were called to residence near Cass Lake at 4:40 a.m. that day and learned that Lutgen had gone into a home and tried to kill another man who was sleeping at the time.
Through the investigation, authorities learned Lutgen was obsessed with the victim’s wife and had been in contact with her through a social networking site. Lutgen told the woman he believed her husband was an unfit father and asked for help in killing him, according to the complaint.
The woman repeatedly told Lutgen to leave and went to bed. She woke up at about 4:30 a.m. to find Lutgen standing in her bedroom and staring at her. She told him to leave, and later saw Lutgen hitting her husband over the head with a piece of wood and kicking him.
After forcing Lutgen out of the house, he fled the scene but was arrested hours later.
