Charges in double slaying describe violent struggle

MORA, MINN. - Lois and Larry Steenerson pleaded with 911 dispatchers for help Sunday night as they relayed their own killings-in-progress over the phone, screaming in pain as they were attacked.

"Somebody's robbing us," Lois Steenerson said in the first 911 call, according to a transcript released Tuesday by the Kanabec County Sheriff's Office. "They've shot. There's guns out here. Quick."

The transcript details a desperate set of exchanges between the Steenersons and two dispatchers who could hear the couple struggling with their attacker.

Craig M. Hohenwald, 27, of Brook Park, Minn., was charged Tuesday with two counts of second-degree murder with intent and two counts of second-degree murder without intent for the double slaying.

Jennifer Ann-Lind Seiberlich, 28, of Mora, was charged with aiding an offender accomplice after the fact and aiding an offender to avoid arrest.

According to investigators, Seiberlich told them that she received a text message from Hohenwald before the killings that read, "Are you up for a crazy night. 10g's." When she called him to ask what he meant, she told investigators, she assumed it had something to do with marijuana.

The 911 calls began about 10:20 p.m., when Lois Steenerson, 66, first called for help. The two calls were disconnected, dispatchers called back and Larry Steenerson, 61, answered.

"They're trying to kill us here," he said. "Craig. Ohh! Craig Hohenwald.

"Craig Hohenwald?" the dispatcher asked as sounds of a struggle, including breaking glass, were heard.

Lois Steenerson then picked up the phone.

"They stabbed us," she said.

"OK, where were you stabbed at?" the dispatcher asked.

"On my neck," Lois Steenerson said, before declaring, "I'm dying. Ohh!"

First on the scene was a Mora police officer, who saw a man in a dark coat dash out the front door of the Steenersons' house and get into the passenger side of a car, according to the charges. The car, however, was blocked from leaving by the squad car. Hohenwald got out of the car, and the officer drew his gun. Hohenwald was covered in blood from his hands to his elbows, with more blood on his head and chin, according to the charges.

The officer ordered Hohenwald to the ground and ordered Seiberlich out of the vehicle. While waiting for back up, the officer overheard Hohenwald "utter something about his family and a real estate or land deal," the charges said.

Court documents from a lawsuit filed by the Steenersons in 2007 show that Hohenwald's parents, Linda and Gerald Hohenwald, had fallen behind on the repayment of about $250,000 they owed the Steenersons in connection with a property deal. A trial is scheduled for June. Court documents dated Feb. 2 ordered the Sheriff's Office to seize some of the Hohenwalds' property, including tractors, 24 horses and cattle and items given, sold or deeded to their son Ryan and daughter, Lori. Craig Hohenwald is not named in the suit.

Other court documents filed by the Steenersons expressed concern that the Hohenwalds were selling their property, which might have left the Steenersons with nothing to collect if they won their court case.

When authorities entered the Steenersons' split-level home Sunday night, they found Lois Steenerson in the couple's bedroom. She had suffered a large stab wound between her left collar bone and shoulder blade, and was taking shallow breaths. She died at Kanabec County Hospital.

Walls along a stairwell were covered in large red smears. An empty pistol holder sat on a stair. Larry Steenerson was found in a downstairs office covered in blood. He had been stabbed 30 to 40 times, according to the medical examiner. He died at the scene.

A bloody knife and gun were found behind the passenger seat of Hohenwald's getaway car, according to the charges.

A handcuffed Seiberlich, in orange and blue jail garb, made her court appearance Tuesday, slumped over and fighting tears through most of the proceedings. As she was escorted out of court, Seiberlich quietly said, "I love you," to several family members and friends.

Her bail is set at $100,000 with conditions, or $250,000 without conditions.

Before the hearing, Seiberlich's boyfriend, Gabriel Schmidt, said that he spoke with her by cell phone while she was under arrest Sunday night. He said she told him that Hohenwald refused to tell her where they were going that night, and ordered her to stay in the car when they arrived at the Steenersons' house. Schmidt said Seiberlich often gave Hohenwald rides because he didn't have a driver's license because of a previous drunken driving offense.

"She didn't have anything to do with this," said Seiberlich's brother, Anthony Bowman.

Hohenwald appeared in court a few hours later and was largely unemotional. His bail is set at $700,000 with conditions, or $1.5 million without conditions. His attorney, Paul Egtvedt, declined to comment.

County Attorney Amy Brosnahan said an officer reported smelling alcohol on Hohenwald Sunday, and a whiskey bottle was found in the car.

Reached Tuesday, Hohenwald's mother, Linda, said only, "My son's a good kid. That's a fact."

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