Murder charges filed against two men in Minneapolis man's death

Two brothers with violent histories were charged Monday in the slaying of a Minneapolis man whose body was found last week in the east metro.

Skylar E. Labarge, 26, of Minneapolis and Preston S. Sharlow, 32, of Bloomington were charged in Hennepin County District Court with one count each of second-degree murder with intent.

Authorities believe they lured William C. Albrecht, 29, to a home in Bloomington on Nov. 15 and kicked him, stomped on him and attempted to cut his neck with a piece of glass.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said the attack was the result of Sharlow's and Albrecht's romantic involvement with the same woman, a 31-year-old Bloomington resident who was initially arrested as part of the investigation and then cleared of involvement.

"It was a brutal assault over a period of time," said Freeman, who called the killing "tragic and senseless."

The charges accuse Labarge and Sharlow of posing as the woman as they used her phone to lure Albrecht to her house in the 1500 block of E. 87th Street in Bloomington.

Neither had attorneys listed for their cases Monday.

Police learned that Albrecht was last seen at a bar in Bloomington on Nov. 14 and that he had been dropped off at the woman's home.

The woman told police Albrecht had been lured to the home by Sharlow and Labarge, the charges said.

Freeman said the woman was home at the time and fled with her child out a back window while the assault was "ongoing."

Police searching the home found "multiple areas of a blood like substance" in the home and garage and Albrecht's cellphone. The home smelled "strongly of recent application of cleaning agents," the complaint said.

Sharlow and Labarge were arrested Thursday. Sharlow allegedly told police that he and Labarge assaulted Albrecht in the garage, repeatedly kicking him and stomping on him.

Sharlow told police the two then drove Albrecht's body to a remote location in Woodbury, where he later took officers.

Labarge denied involvement and then told police he participated in the assault, killing and transportation of Albrecht's body, the charges said. He also admitted to helping clean up evidence and taking Albrecht's phone and chain necklace, according to the complaint.

Court records show that Sharlow and Labarge have been convicted of violent crimes, including assault, domestic assault and domestic abuse.

Sharlow pleaded guilty in March for violating a no-contact order in 2017 involving the woman in the Albrecht case. He was previously convicted of violating a no-contact order with the same woman in 2015.

Sharlow has a pending disorderly conduct case for allegedly grabbing the faux-hawk on a helmet worn by a 10-year-old neighbor who was rollerblading by in 2017. He is accused of causing the boy to fall backward and strike his head and shoulder on the ground.

Albrecht graduated from Edina High School in 2008, then in 2013 from a golf instruction and management school in Phoenix. Most recently, he worked at Dick's Last Resort restaurant in the Mall of America. Survivors include twins age 2½, said his sister, Laura Albrecht.

"He had this way about him where you knew the second he walked into a room. There would always be a trail of people laughing as he went by," Laura Albrecht said Monday. "But he also had this amazingly special heart, too. He knew how to make people feel confident and taught me how to live every day to the fullest. He is missed by so many wonderfully lucky people. … He touched so many lives in the best possible way."

Staff writer Paul Walsh contributed to this report.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708 Twitter: @ChaoStrib