MOUNDS VIEW, Minn. (WCCO) – Criminal charges say that both brothers in Tuesday evening’s fratricide in Mounds View had been drinking before their argument resulted in fatal violence.
Fifty-six-year-old Jay Herbert Hilling was arrested after his 51-year-old brother Michael Scott Hilling was found stabbed to death at the townhome they shared.
“What am I, the bad guy? Michael came at me,” Jay Hilling reportedly told officers at the scene. “I don’t know what happened.”
Jay Hilling told officers that his brother came to his room with the knife in hand. He said the two struggled, but he told officers he didn’t know how his brother was injured.
The two brothers also lived with their ailing 77-year-old mother, who police said was at home at the time of the murder. She told police her sons argued and fought frequently.
Police records revealed about 35 calls to the house dating back to May 2005. The calls range from reports of domestic assault, drunkenness and medical calls to aggravated assault with a weapon.
According to the charges, Jay Hilling had a blood alcohol level of 0.15, whereas preliminary tests indicate Michael Hilling’s blood alcohol was at 0.32.
Michael Hilling was stabbed multiple times in the chest. Provisional autopsy results indicate he had been stabbed in the heart.
Jay Hilling is charged with second-degree murder.
