TheeBadOne
08-16-2005, 08:31 AM
Homicide charge added after assault victim dies
Jennifer Faulhaber, her fiancé and his best friend had stopped by her mom's house in Blaine after a night out at a concert in Minneapolis.
The three were out for walk when a man wielding a large liquor bottle appeared. He beat the two men on the head until they dropped to the street. Faulhaber yelled for him to stop and called police on her cell phone. The assailant fled only when she started relaying the address to police.
"I have no idea why" he attacked, said Faulhaber, 21. "It was scary. He just came out of nowhere. I think he was on drugs."
Robert Wetterling, 23, and Gary Lener, 22, who is Faulhaber's fiancé, were hospitalized with serious head injuries after the July 13 attack and released by the end of the month. But Wetterling, of New Brighton, developed seizures as the result of the eight skull fractures he suffered. Screws were needed to repair his skull. He died Friday after suffering a seizure Aug. 5.
Later that day, Anoka County authorities added a murder charge to the assault charges already filed against Nicholas Denzer, 23, of Blaine.
Denzer lived in an apartment near the assault scene at Cloverleaf Parkway and 99th Avenue. Police are not sure what motivated the attack, but drugs or alcohol may be factors, said Sheriff's Capt. Bob Aldrich. He asked that anyone with information about the case call authorities at 763-427-1212.
According to court charges: The men were attacked shortly before 2 a.m. when Denzer approached the trio as they walked past his apartment balcony. Denzer asked if they had a problem and said he had heard them talking in a bad way about him.
He then hit Wetterling on the head with the bottle, causing him to stagger, and then struck him two more times. When Lener tried to intervene, Denzer hit him with the bottle, splitting his head and knocking him to the street. As Faulhaber screamed and called police on her cell phone, Denzer ran toward his apartment.
"As soon as he heard me telling them the address, he stopped," Faulhaber said, noting the bottle never broke. She later identified Denzer in a photo lineup.
As a result of his injuries, Wetterling had difficulty speaking and began having seizures, and was unable to return to his job spray painting cabinets. Lener was placed in an induced coma at North Memorial Medical Center and a stent was placed in his head to reduce brain swelling, the charges said.
Lener "doesn't remember anything," said Faulhaber, who lives with him in Elk River.
Wetterling attended high school in Lindstrom, Minn., where his parents live, Faulhaber said. She said he was a peaceful man who loved fishing and had three siblings. She said she and Lener had gone fishing and shopping with Wetterling before his last seizure.
"He seemed fine," she said. "It is crazy. We are still dealing with it."
When police arrested Denzer July 19 they found more than a half-pound of marijuana and $4,000 cash hidden in his apartment. He was released but arrested again after the latest charge and is being held in lieu of $600,000 bail.
He was initially charged with first- and second-degree assault, but an unintentional murder charge was added Friday.
article (http://www.startribune.com/stories/467/5562081.html)
Jennifer Faulhaber, her fiancé and his best friend had stopped by her mom's house in Blaine after a night out at a concert in Minneapolis.
The three were out for walk when a man wielding a large liquor bottle appeared. He beat the two men on the head until they dropped to the street. Faulhaber yelled for him to stop and called police on her cell phone. The assailant fled only when she started relaying the address to police.
"I have no idea why" he attacked, said Faulhaber, 21. "It was scary. He just came out of nowhere. I think he was on drugs."
Robert Wetterling, 23, and Gary Lener, 22, who is Faulhaber's fiancé, were hospitalized with serious head injuries after the July 13 attack and released by the end of the month. But Wetterling, of New Brighton, developed seizures as the result of the eight skull fractures he suffered. Screws were needed to repair his skull. He died Friday after suffering a seizure Aug. 5.
Later that day, Anoka County authorities added a murder charge to the assault charges already filed against Nicholas Denzer, 23, of Blaine.
Denzer lived in an apartment near the assault scene at Cloverleaf Parkway and 99th Avenue. Police are not sure what motivated the attack, but drugs or alcohol may be factors, said Sheriff's Capt. Bob Aldrich. He asked that anyone with information about the case call authorities at 763-427-1212.
According to court charges: The men were attacked shortly before 2 a.m. when Denzer approached the trio as they walked past his apartment balcony. Denzer asked if they had a problem and said he had heard them talking in a bad way about him.
He then hit Wetterling on the head with the bottle, causing him to stagger, and then struck him two more times. When Lener tried to intervene, Denzer hit him with the bottle, splitting his head and knocking him to the street. As Faulhaber screamed and called police on her cell phone, Denzer ran toward his apartment.
"As soon as he heard me telling them the address, he stopped," Faulhaber said, noting the bottle never broke. She later identified Denzer in a photo lineup.
As a result of his injuries, Wetterling had difficulty speaking and began having seizures, and was unable to return to his job spray painting cabinets. Lener was placed in an induced coma at North Memorial Medical Center and a stent was placed in his head to reduce brain swelling, the charges said.
Lener "doesn't remember anything," said Faulhaber, who lives with him in Elk River.
Wetterling attended high school in Lindstrom, Minn., where his parents live, Faulhaber said. She said he was a peaceful man who loved fishing and had three siblings. She said she and Lener had gone fishing and shopping with Wetterling before his last seizure.
"He seemed fine," she said. "It is crazy. We are still dealing with it."
When police arrested Denzer July 19 they found more than a half-pound of marijuana and $4,000 cash hidden in his apartment. He was released but arrested again after the latest charge and is being held in lieu of $600,000 bail.
He was initially charged with first- and second-degree assault, but an unintentional murder charge was added Friday.
article (http://www.startribune.com/stories/467/5562081.html)