Three To Be Charged In Connection With Bodies Found Near Bemidji Earlier This Year

Darren Stebe

Beltrami County Attorney David Hanson announced Wednesday that charges against three individuals will be filed in district court on Thursday, July 25 in connection with the two bodies found in Eckles Township earlier this year.

According to a release, the three individuals who will be charged are Darren Stebe, Kristi Trisco, and Daniel Linde. Stebe is being charged with two counts of second-degree murder for the killing of Adam Thorpe and Jason McDonough on or around January 28, 2019.

Investigators from the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office and the MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension along with MN BCA Crime Scene Team executed a search warrant on February 5, 2019 and recovered the remains of the two individuals from a fire pit located on a property in Eckles Township.

Both Trisco and Linde are being charged with two felony counts each of aiding an offender after the fact for their role in assisting Stebe after the homicides.

Stebe has been in custody since February 4, 2019 when law enforcement learned that he had been involved in criminal activity. He had been on supervised parole and was taken into custody for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

The extra time Stebe was in custody allowed the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension to complete a thorough investigation which culminated in the charges being filed this week. Trisco and Linde are also currently in custody. Beltrami County Attorney David Hanson anticipates that all three suspects will be arraigned within the next few days.

Hanson would like to thank the Beltrami County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota BCA for their work during the investigation.