EVELETH, MINN. -- Ronald Hannuksela Jr. was facing prison time for dealing methamphetamine, had a history of stalking his ex-wife and was in his car in front of her house with a loaded pistol Tuesday when a State Patrol trooper shot and killed him.
But Natalie Hannuksela defended her slain ex-husband Wednesday, calling him a good father, saying their relationship had been better lately, and speculating that he was just going to her house in Eveleth for some things stored in her garage.
"I was aware he'd been in trouble lately, but I didn't know any details," she said. "We're concerned that excessive force might have been used, but we haven't been given any information."
Authorities investigating the shooting said Wednesday that trooper Bryan Carey, 35, shot Hannuksela through the car's driver's side windows after the 50-year-old fugitive brandished a .32-caliber revolver and refused to obey Carey's commands to get out of the car.
Lt. Edward Kippley of the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, which is heading the investigation, said the trooper recognized Hannuksela, a self-employed cement finisher who lived on 5 acres outside Mountain Iron, Minn., and was trying to arrest him on felony warrants from three northeastern Minnesota counties.
Authorities said Carey fired several shots, but they declined to say how many hit Hannuksela or whether Hannuksela fired any. They said the loaded revolver found in his car was turned over to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for testing. Hannuksela died at the scene, and his body was taken to the St. Louis County medical examiner's office for an autopsy.
"An officer came to the place I work and told me there was an incident and that my ex-husband was dead," said Natalie Hannuksela, who has two teenage children with Hannuksela. Neither was home at the time of the shooting. "They're talking it hard," she said. "He's got a big family, and it's hard for everybody -- his mother, sisters and brothers."
Drugs, guns and threats
