Man found guilty of helping son hide bodies of 4 killed in St. Paul in a Wisconsin cornfield

Darren Osborne is scheduled to be sentenced soon after his release from a Minnesota prison for aiding his son in the murder coverup.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
November 1, 2024 at 5:24PM
From left: Nitosha Flug-Presley, Loyace Foreman III, Matthew Pettus and Jasmine C. Sturm. (Provided with permission)

A man in a Minnesota prison for helping his son cover up the murders of four people in St. Paul more than three years ago is facing more time locked up now that he’s been convicted of helping hide the bodies in a western Wisconsin cornfield.

Darren Lee Osborne, 59, was convicted Wednesday by a jury in Dunn (Wis.) County Circuit Court of four felony counts of hiding a corpse in connection with the shooting of two women and two men in September 2021.

Osborne is in the Minnesota state prison in Faribault after being convicted of aiding and abetting.

He’s set to be released Nov. 26, then is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 13 on his Dunn County convictions that call for several years in prison.

In May 2023, Antoine Suggs of Scottsdale, Ariz., was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court to a term of more than 103 years after a jury convicted him on four counts of second-degree murder in connection with the killings. The 41-year-old Suggs’ sentence is virtually a life sentence. His release date is in 2090.

Suggs admitted at his trial to shooting Nitosha Flug-Presley, 30, of Stillwater; Jasmine C. Sturm, 30; Matthew Pettus, 26; and Loyace Foreman III, 35, all of St. Paul. However, he said he was acting in self-defense after the four attempted to rob him. Suggs also said thought Pettus or Foreman might be armed.

Prosecutors argued that Suggs meant to kill all four when he shot them after a night of drinking on W. 7th Street. They said Suggs shot them just after 3:30 a.m. and verified they were dead before calling Osborne, his father.

Footage from traffic cameras, gas station security and a Dunn County sheriff’s squad showed Suggs in a Mercedes SUV and Osborne in a Nissan Rogue traveling in tandem. The pair left the bodies in the Mercedes in a cornfield 60 miles from the scene of the shootings. Police found six spent shell casings in the abandoned vehicle.

In December 2022, Osborne pleaded guilty in Ramsey County District Court to aiding and abetting an offender for his role in helping his son.

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Paul Walsh

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Paul Walsh is a general assignment reporter at the Minnesota Star Tribune. He wants your news tips, especially in and near Minnesota.

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