19 years after Minneapolis slaying, a DNA match

Brenda Pikala was stabbed in '89 while sitting beneath a footbridge across Minnehaha Creek in Minneapolis; now, skin under her fingernails has led to murder charges.

By DAVID CHANEN, Star Tribune

Last update: September 30, 2008 - 8:04 AM

An hour after dropping off her 8-year-old son with family, Brenda Pikala was stabbed repeatedly while sitting beneath a footbridge across Minnehaha Creek in Minneapolis. Her little boy helped read part of the eulogy at her funeral. That was 19 years ago.

Although police had a knife sheath, partial bottle of Pepsi, black comb and skin of a potential suspect under her fingernails, DNA testing was in its infancy in 1989. That same evidence has now put a man behind bars in connection with her killing.

Actually, Alfred L. Moen was already in a cell at Lino Lakes prison for violation of probation on a drunken driving charge when Sgt. Barb Moe of Minneapolis' cold case unit had "a very interesting talk" with him last week. He didn't know Pikala's name. Didn't recognize her picture. Police don't know why he might have killed the 29-year-old mother.

"You could say I caught him off guard," she said.

Moen, 44, was charged Monday with second-degree murder. DNA evidence linked Moen to the case in April, but the detectives wanted to make sure the case was rock solid before informing Pikala's relatives last week. Her father died two weeks ago and her mother seven years earlier.

It is the first solved case for the cold case unit that consists of Moe and Sgt. Tammy Diedrich. Both investigators had worked in the homicide unit and joined the new cold case unit in January.

"It's been absolutely worthwhile," Moe said.

Pikala grew up in north Minneapolis and fell into a life of drugs and alcohol, said her sister, Theresa Pikala. She was unemployed, but had been taking accounting classes. The night she died, Brenda Pikala planned to see a movie with her son, Nicholas, but he changed his mind.

About 9:30 p.m. on Sept. 1, she approached a car on Minnehaha Parkway. Staggering and bleeding heavily, she said, "Please help me, I am dying," according to a court document. A doctor on the block provided aid, but she died at the scene.

Because Brenda Pikala was a transient, Theresa Pikala was told by police that solving the case would be difficult. She asked about the case for five years, but eventually stopped calling. Her mother found it hard to visit her daughter's grave.

When Moe and Diedrich decided in January which cases to pursue, they had to evaluate available evidence and its potential for a DNA hit.

"It's kind of a crapshoot," Moe said. "You are working so many cases that you just keep submitting samples for testing and move on."

The knife sheath, pop bottle and comb were turned over to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing. The DNA samples matched a man in the bureau's database of DNA profiles from unsolved crimes. That sample matched another DNA database of convicted offenders.

In April, Moe learned the main suspect was mostly likely Alfred Moen, who lived about three blocks from where Pikala was killed. The frosting on the cake came Sept. 15, when Moe learned that DNA evidence showed the scrapings under Pikala's fingernails belonged to Moen.

"Oh, my God, it's such a good feeling," Moe said.

It could have been tough tracking Moen down because he had been on the move for several years, but "it was really nice that he was already in prison," Moe said.

"I still have a lot of questions I want answers to," she said. "It crossed my mind about some cases outside of Minnesota. You wonder if there are more out there."

Theresa Pikala didn't recognize Moen's name, but she might recognize him when she and her four siblings see him in court some day. When Brenda Pikala's son learned about the charges, Theresa Pikala said, he's "just going with it." Right now, Pikala and her four siblings are dealing with a lot of anger, she said.

"I want people to just remember Brenda's smile," she said. "It has taken a lot of years to find this man, a lot of years."

David Chanen • 612-673-4465

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