Brainerd Man Charged with Murder, Kidnapping, & More After AMBER Alert Incident

Chad Aanerud (Credit: Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office)

A Brainerd man who is accused of shooting and killing a man, setting a house on fire, and raping a woman and then kidnapping her and her four children – prompting authorities to issue an AMBER Alert – is charged with 12 felonies in connection with those incidents.

35-year-old Chad Aanerud faces two counts of second-degree murder, one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, five counts of kidnapping, one count of first-degree arson, two counts of second-degree assault, and one count of theft.

According to the criminal complaint in the case, on early Friday morning, Aanerud forced a woman to have sex with him, then burned her parents’ home down and stole numerous firearms from the home. After the woman and her children fled to a neighbor’s house, the neighbor confronted Aanerud.

Aanerud admitted to investigators that he shot and killed that man, who has been identified as 62-year-old Lyle Maske. Aanerud then forced the woman and her children to leave at gunpoint and left the area in a van.

After an AMBER Alert was sent out around 6:30 a.m., the van was spotted near Little Falls, and officers arrested Aanerud. The officers noted he smelled strongly of gasoline.

The children were in the vehicle and were unharmed. The woman suffered numerous injuries consistent with being physically assaulted.

Aanerud made his first court appearance on the charges Monday in front of Crow Wing County Judge Charles Halverson, who ordered Aanerud held on $3 million bail without conditions. His next court appearance will be an omnibus hearing scheduled for November 12th.

GoFundMe pages have been set up to help the victims: one for the woman and her children can be found here, and another for Maske’s family is here.