Jurors have convicted a southern Minnesota man of fatally shooting a former girlfriend he allegedly abused and leaving her body beneath a freeway overpass.
Jason L. Horner, 41, of Faribault, Minn., was found guilty Thursday after a two-week trial in Steele County District Court of second-degree intentional murder and illegal gun possession in the shooting on May 29, 2023, of Sabrina L. Schnoor, 25, of Elysian, Minn.
Horner remains jailed ahead of sentencing, which is scheduled for Dec. 22.
In July 2017, Schnoor petitioned the court for an order of protection, accusing Horner of beating, stalking and harassing her and threatening to kill her. That same year, another former girlfriend filed a similar petition with the court and recounted nearly identical behavior at the home she had shared with Horner in Austin, Minn.
Along with Thursday’s guilty verdicts, Horner’s criminal history in Minnesota includes two convictions for assault, four for drug offenses and one each of burglary and violating a restraining order.
State Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office led the prosecution of Horner at the request of the County Attorney’s Office, said in a statement that Schnoor “was a mother, an artist, and someone who brought tremendous joy and happiness to those around her. And Sabrina was taken from us far too soon.”
Schnoor’s obituary noted that “she enjoyed fishing with her grandpa, camping, music of all genres and being in nature. From birth, she was obsessed with animals of all kinds and loved walking her dog. She loved kids, especially her son Daniel, who was the light of her world.”
