Mosley gets three life sentences in Brooklyn Park killings

Eddie Mosley shook his head slowly Friday as a Hennepin County prosecutor asked that Judge Todd Barnette give him three consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for a 2012 triple killing in Brooklyn Park.

Barnette had found Mosley guilty Thursday in the killings of DeLois Brown, 59, a home day-care provider, and her parents, James Bolden Sr., 83, and Clover Bolden, 81, at Brown's house.

The first-degree premeditated murder convictions require sentences of life without the possibility of parole. Barnette gave Mosley consecutive sentences, noting that Brown and Clover Bolden were shot twice in the head and that James Bolden Sr. was shot twice in the face.

The judge didn't elaborate on his verdict in the nonjury trial or make a statement to the family. He has a week to release his findings of fact on the verdict.

Mosley, in his prison-issue orange, declined to comment before sentencing. His lawyer, Travis Keil, said Mosley maintains his innocence and awaits an appeal.

It was during prosecutor Marlene Senechal's comments that Mosley shook his head. Senechal, head of the county's violent crime division, said Mosley deserved the maximum sentence because he had "executed three people in their own house."

Prosecutors said Mosley drove from his home in St. Louis to Brooklyn Park to kill a young relative whom he was accused of raping in Minnesota. He thought the victim would be at Brown's home and he intended to kill them both, prosecutors said. Days before the killings, Mosley had been notified that he had been charged in Wright County with a sex crime.

Mosley had blood on his face when he returned to the vehicle, the friend testified. He also burned his clothes on the way back to St. Louis, ditched the bike and threw his gun in a creek, the friend said.

At sentencing, two relatives gave victim-impact statements in court. Two others wrote statements that were read by others.

James Bolden Jr. spoke of how his life has been torn apart with the loss of his sole remaining sibling and his parents. He called his parents "sweethearts" and Brown his "baby sister."

"I feel so lost and empty without these last three remaining people that I was raised with," he said. "They'll never come back because someone didn't want to answer for something stupid he did."

That was a theme among the statements: Rather than take responsibility for his actions, Mosley took the lives of three members of a warm, close-knit, religious family.

She talked tearfully of how she was able to call her mom for a kind word: "He took that person from me that I could call any time night or day."

She asked Barnette to put Mosley behind bars for life, but added that even in prison, "He still is able to call his mom."

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747