Man in Eagan kills his mother, then himself, police say

An Eagan man apparently killed his 69-year-old mother and himself about two weeks ago, police said.

By PAUL WALSH and ABBY SIMONS, Star Tribune staff writers

Last update: April 23, 2009 - 10:53 AM

The deaths of an elderly Eagan woman and her middle-aged son, who apparently killed her and then himself, went undetected for most of this month until someone asked that their apartment be checked, police said Wednesday.

Friends of the woman said they were baffled as to why the man who doted on his mother would take her life, then his. Police have not yet identified the victims, but friends and a relative identified them as Marianne Fogolin, 69, and her son Robert Ament, 48.

"I'm just floored," said Darlene Bahr, a friend of Fogolin's through the Red Hat Society and Hand and Foot card club. "We don't ask about one another's children unless it's brought up, but she praised him up one side and down the other."

Eagan police say the bodies were found shortly before noon Tuesday in a third-floor unit of High Pointe Village Apartments, 3906 S. Valley View Drive.

Officers went there on a request to check on the occupants. They both appeared to have been shot, and the man's wound appeared to be self-inflicted, police said.

Police estimated the decomposed bodies had been in the apartment for as long as two weeks. The Dakota County medical examiner's office is assisting in identifying them.

Luigia Fogolin of St. Paul confirmed that her twin sister and nephew are dead. Asked whether she knew why he may have killed them both, she said: "Yes I do, but I'm not going to talk about it."

Police said they had no previous calls there. It was the first homicide in Eagan since 2005.

'A state of shock'

Friends say Fogolin was born in Germany and moved to the United States after World War II. She was active in her community. She acted as a translator for Americans traveling to Germany, Bahr said, and had been a member of the Red Hat Society's local chapter, dubbed the "Elegant Eaganites," for the past five years.

Fogolin had missed the April 6 meeting without calling, Bahr said, which was strange.

"We just thought, 'Gee, she must be gone on a trip,'" she said.

Bahr said Fogolin also worked with disabled adults once a week. She mentioned to fellow members of the group that Robert traded stocks and paid all her bills.

"She said 'Robert spoils me, [and] I don't have to do anything,'" Bahr said.

Fogolin was close with her family. She had at least one other daughter, who recently married, Bahr said.

Ament and Fogolin do not appear to have criminal records. Friends of Fogolin said she had no apparent health problems.

"We're all just in a state of shock," Bahr said.

pwalsh@startribune.com • 612-673-4482 asimons@startribune.com • 612-673-4921