Bemidji Ski Resort Owner Charged with Financially Exploiting Vulnerable Adult

The owner of Buena Vista Ski Area in Bemidji, Suzanne Thomas, has been charged with financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult and is being accused of unlawfully transferring $1.5 million from the trust of her 95-year-old aunt, Muffy Dickinson.

According to court documents:

Family members of Dickinson reported that they had become increasingly concerned she had become too reliant on Suzanne and her husband, Don Thomas. According to the family, Dickinson’s cognitive skills had been steadily declining at that time. This prompted the family to hire an attorney in April 2021 to revoke a will from Dickinson from 1996 that nominated Suzanne Thomas as a personal representative of some parcels of property up at Buena Vista.

Just a few months later in June, that same attorney reportedly drafted and executed a quitclaim deed that transferred a 52-acre parcel that included Dickinson’s home to Suzanne without sending any form of payment to her. Dickinson then met with a different attorney and demanded the transaction be canceled, as she did not understand the documents that she had signed. Later in November, Suzanne transferred the property back to Dickinson.

In 2023, Dickinson’s cognitive skills continued to decline. A medical exam note from June of that year indicates that Dickinson suffered from advanced dementia and poor short-term memory, which led to Dickinson being admitted to Neilson Place in Bemidji, a long-term care facility. Suzanne continued to frequently visit and interact with Dickinson at Neilson Place.

In February 2024, Thomas transported Dickinson to a prearranged meeting at Buena Vista where several lawyers and witnesses were present. At that meeting, Dickinson transferred 13 separate parcels of property valued at over $1 million to Mariann Dickinson, Muffy’s sister-in-law and the mother of Suzanne Thomas. Mariann was reported as near death due to her old age.

At that same meeting, Dickinson also transferred another six parcels of real property valued at over $500,000 to Suzanne and Don Thomas.

One month later, Mariann Dickinson passed way. Mariann nominated Suzanne to be her personal representative of the estate as a result of the transfers in February, leaving Suzanne in control of all 19 parcels of property at Buena Vista.

Later in April, Muffy Dickinson was interviewed by Beltrami County investigators and indicated she did not recall transferring any of her property or received any compensation for those transfers. The value of the land involved in these allegedly unlawful transfers is approximately $1.5 million.

We reached out to Beltrami County Attorney David Hanson but he declined to comment at this time. We also reached out to Suzanne Thomas for a comment on this story but have not yet received a response.