Troy Mitteness, 56, from Burnsville, Minnesota, is facing second-degree murder charges after prosecutors claim he confirmed to the police that he stabbed and killed his 82-year-old mother, Sandra Mitteness, recently last summer.
The incident began in June with a search for money orders and check thefts from the past year. When The police went to question Sandra, they stumbled upon Troy. His original story of his mother being in South Dakota was soon altered. He then told investigators that his mother had passed away on the 14th of June, 2022.
During the search warrant related to the accused mail theft, documents appeared to include an obituary from a local funeral home. Police contacted the funeral home that allegedly provided services for Sandra, and they reported having no record of her death. This led police to open a missing persons case. Detectives then consulted with Mitteness’ family members, which illuminated his previously stated claim that his mother had passed. Police assumed possession of a copy of Sandra’s death certificate, which showed her death occurred in another location that contradicted the initial statement Mitteness had made.
Further investigation exposed that Mitteness had authored an illegitimate death certificate and had been capitalizing on his mother’s Social Security number to make deposits into his own bank account.
The police then sought to execute a search warrant for the Mitteness home. During the search, officers discovered blood. Upon further questioning from the police, Troy admitted that he murdered his mother. The criminal complaint reads that Troy “told the detectives he killed the victim in June of 2022, in his Burnsville, Dakota County home, by stabbing her in the neck with a large kitchen knife. After she had been dead for a couple of days, he dismembered her body and placed her body parts in multiple different large plastic tote bins. Troy then drove west toward Appleton, Minnesota, discarding the body parts in ditches along the way.”
Troy’s actions lead to a horrifying reminder of the effects of violence and the prominence of mental health care, but the process began with the police’s search for money orders and check thefts. Troy initially lied about his mother’s whereabouts before he confessed to the murder, which led to his arrest.
The Dakota County Attorney, Kathy Keena, expressed that this was one of the most horrific cases she has ever seen, resulting in Troy being detained and a bail set of $2 million. His first court appearance was on Monday, with a return to court on July 20.