A man doused in gasoline and set ablaze in the middle of the night in his Chisago County home pushed through the pain in his final hours to implicate his attacker, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday.
Dallas R. Evenstad, 34, of Albertville, Minn., was charged in Chisago County District Court with second-degree murder and first-degree assault in connection with the predawn fire Sunday in Fish Lake Township that killed 69-year-old Charles A. Stene and injured 42-year-old Amy C. Nord, who shared the home with him.
Evenstad remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail and is due in court June 22. Messages were left with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.
According to the criminal complaint:
Firefighters from nearby Rush City were dispatched about 3:30 a.m. to the burning home in the 45800 block of Cambridge Drive. A sheriff's sergeant overheard on emergency dispatch audio that a woman with burns said the fire was set intentionally.
The sergeant arrived to the home and saw a screaming Stene rolling on the ground in a blanket.
Despite having been burned over nearly his entire body, Stene identified the suspect as Evenstad and said he was asleep with Nord by his side when "he threw gas on me and lit me up," the charges read.
An air ambulance took Stene to HCMC, where he was pronounced dead that afternoon. An autopsy determined he suffered burns over 80% to 90% of his body.