Suspect in custody in killing of Twin Cities woman with troubled past
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A suspect is in custody in the 2005 beating and strangulation death of a Twin Cities woman whose naked body was found in a Northfield ditch along an interstate, authorities said.
The 33-year-old man is in the Rice County jail on an unrelated conviction, according to a statement Wednesday from the Sheriff's Office.
The man's role in the death of 33-year-old Laura Lynn DeMeules was determined in January after a "lengthy and complex investigation" by the Sheriff's Office and the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, according to the statement.
The county attorney's office is reviewing the investigation and is expected to file charges "in the near future," the Sheriff's Office statement said. DeMeules, a mother of three boys, had a history of arrests for prostitution, theft and narcotics in Minneapolis.
DeMeules was last seen Nov. 5, 2005, when she went to see her 17-year-old son in Minneapolis. Later on, she was with people at a home near Lake Street and 21st Avenue S., said her sister, Sheila DeMeules. She was told that Laura was probably partying with the people who killed her.
That surprised relatives because Laura DeMeules had been sober for several years. She had moved back home with her father in Blaine.
"She did have a criminal past, but she hadn't been arrested for several years," Sheila DeMeules said late last year. "She didn't want to be back on the streets."
Laura DeMeules' body was found in a ditch by a backhoe operator near Interstate Hwy. 35 west of Northfield. Neighbors reported seeing headlights at 4 a.m. on the gravel road where her body was found.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
