Woman with long history of mental illness charged with fatally stabbing father in Lowry Hill home

A woman with a long history of mental illness said she fatally stabbed her father at the Minneapolis home where they both lived because "he has always been very controlling," according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

Maria A. Palen, 37, was charged in Hennepin County District Court with second-degree intentional murder in connection with the stabbing Friday of 78-year-old Joseph F. Palen in the Lowry Hill neighborhood home in the 1700 block of Dupont Avenue S.

Maria Palen remained jailed in lieu of $1 million bail ahead of a court appearance Wednesday afternoon. Court records do not list an attorney for her.

Court records in Minnesota show that Maria Palen has been civilly committed for treatment of bipolar disorder three times in the past nine years.

In April 2021, she punched her father in the leg as he slept and expressed fears that her parents were trying to drug and hypnotize her, one court filing read. Emergency medical providers quoted her as saying that her parents "were going to die tonight."

A petition from HCMC for an order commitment, filed on March 15, noted that she was admitted to HCMC and was described as "acutely psychotic, paranoid and in a disorganized state. [She] poses a substantial likelihood of physical harm to self or others."

That petition for commitment, however, was resolved nine days later by HCMC and Palen with conditions that she take her medications as prescribed, follow her treatment plan, cooperate with her case manager and not engage in any assaultive, threatening, intimidating or self-injurious behavior.

Another of Joseph Palen's daughters called 911 and said she went to the home to check on her father because she had not heard from him that day. She said she found her father slumped over on the couch. She put her father on the floor "to attempt life-saving measures," the complaint read.

She told police that she suspected her sister was responsible for their father's death.

Police arrived to find Joseph Palen on the floor with a large stab wound to his chest. Close by was a large butcher knife with blood on it and bloodied scissors on the couch.

Officers located Maria Palen on the ground in the backyard. She had dried blood on one arm and a scrape on top of a foot. She started running but was quickly apprehended by police.

A law enforcement search turned up a bloody crop top and hoodie in Maria Palen's bedroom hamper and ripped pajama pants with blood on them were found in the garbage near the back porch.