Three charged for shooting man who owed them $50, complaint said

By TIM HARLOW, Star Tribune

Last update: December 31, 2008 - 2:25 PM

Three people arrested in connection with a shooting early Saturday in Pine County over an alleged $50 debt have been charged with multiple felonies.

Connie L. Kitterman, 44, is accused of pulling the trigger of a .22 caliber gun and wounding a 31-year-old man after Kitterman, her boyfriend and her brother showed up at the victim's house in Brook Park, Minn., at 12:27 a.m. They had demanded a $50 payment for a 1994 Buick the three allegedly sold to the victim, according to a criminal complaint filed in Pine County District Court.

Kitterman, her boyfriend, Jeffrey L. Thauwald, 44, both of Brook Park, Minn., and Kitterman's brother Danny A. Kitterman, 43, were charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, second-degree assault causing substantial bodily harm and third-degree assault causing substantial bodily harm.

The victim is recovering in the intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth.

According to the complaint:

Thauwald said he knocked on the victim's door and asked for a payment he claimed he'd been trying to collect since June. The victim told authorities that he was acquainted with Thauwald and that Thauwald had come to ask for methamphetamine. The victim said he was "clean" and "did not do that any more," and told Thauwald to leave.

An argument broke out between them. Connie Kitterman, who was sitting in a truck, fired two shots to scare the victim. When the victim pushed Thauwald, Connie Kitterman fired a third shot that hit the victim in the chest. The victim's girlfriend called 911. Danny Kitterman grabbed the license plate off the Buick, and the three fled in a white pickup.

The suspects are scheduled to appear in court Jan. 9.

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