Continued: Dog hair leads to second suspect in staged death of Anoka biker

The brother of the man accused of fatally beating his girlfriend, then staging her death to look like a motorcycle accident, was charged with murder Tuesday after police linked dog hair found at the scene to his yellow Labrador retriever.

Timothy Boland, 31, was charged with second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree murder a day after his brother Ryan Boland, 33, was charged with second-degree murder in Friday's death of Natasha Waalen, 28, of Anoka. Bail for each brother is set at $1 million.

Authorities had suspected that Ryan Boland had received help in either the murder, the staged motorcycle crash, or both. When Anoka County authorities examined Waalen's motorcycle and found what appeared to be animal hair amid the grease and debris, they concluded that Timothy Boland had a part in the murder.

Timothy Boland had what appeared to be animal hair on his clothing, according to court records. When he was arrested Friday, authorities found him in his car -- with his dogs, one of them a yellow Lab.

In Anoka County District Court Tuesday, prosecutor Paul Young told Judge Barry A. Sullivan that Timothy Boland had been living on-and-off in his car, with his dogs, since splitting up with his wife.

Prosecutors so far have not detailed what role each brother allegedly played in the killing. But they stand accused of faking the motorcycle accident to cover up how Waalen really died -- multiple blows to the head, according to the criminal charges. A red nylon strap was looped around her body and arms when she was found near her wrecked motorcycle on an Andover street early Friday.

Order for protection

According to court documents, Natasha Waalen told a friend and co-worker on Sept. 16 that she was miserable living with Ryan Boland, father of her 4-year-old daughter. She told her friend that she planned to file an order for protection to have Ryan Boland removed from their home.

"One of the most dangerous things for a battered woman is when she says she's done," said Connie Moore, executive director of Alexandra House, Anoka County's only battered women's shelter.

"That's when things get bad. Domestic abuse and domestic violence is about power and control," Moore said. She said abusers often react to threats such as orders for protection by lashing out. "They lost, in their minds, their way," she said of the abusers.

Travis Waalen, the victim's brother, told authorities that Timothy Boland did not like Natasha Waalen and that he blamed her for ruining Ryan Boland's life. Travis Waalen told authorities that Timothy Boland had physically assaulted his sister in the past. He said Timothy Boland frequently stayed in his car. Other times, he would stay with Ryan Boland and Natasha Waalen, or with Timothy Boland's ex-wife in Robbinsdale, the court complaint states.

Met at a bar earlier that night

According to court documents, a server at Spectator's Bar in Ramsey said Ryan and Timothy Boland, regular customers, arrived together at the bar around 8:15 p.m. Thursday -- hours before Waalen's body was found and two days after she decided to seek the order for protection. They were joined by a third person. The three left the bar between 9:30 and 9:45 p.m., the server told authorities.

Ryan Boland told authorities that he went to pick up chicken wings around 9:30 and that he never stayed at the bar and only went to pick up food. Timothy Boland said that he had a prearranged meeting with the other person and that Ryan Boland showed up unexpectedly. Timothy Boland claimed to have left Spectator's Bar at 9 and to have gone to another bar, in Andover, to meet with undercover officers from the Anoka-Hennepin Drug Task Force.

The prosecutor, Paul Young, said in court that Timothy Boland is indeed cooperating with the task force. But the detective assigned to work with Boland told authorities that he had no scheduled meeting with him Thursday.

Young said in court that Timothy Boland is involved with two drug cases and is expected to be charged in Hennepin County.

Waalen's body was found around 12:30 a.m. Friday. Defensive wounds were found on her hands. Although she was found barefoot, authorities wondered why she had no cuts or scrapes on the bottoms of her feet after supposedly being on her motorcycle.

At Boland's home in Anoka, police found traces of blood on the tailgate, steering wheel and driver's and passenger's seats of Ryan Boland's pickup truck. In the back of the pickup was a broken orange plastic clamp that matched the pieces of clamp that were found at the scene with Waalen's body.

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419