Associated Press
WASECA, Minn. -- A 23-year-old Fairmont man with the word "kill" tattooed on his abdomen was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison on Thursday.
Morgan Schulz was convicted in the death of Rickey Buker, 46, on Aug. 2, 2001. Buker, who was sickly and weighed 98 pounds, was beaten and then strangled with the belt of a bathrobe.
According to the criminal complaint, Schulz allegedly went to Buker's apartment intending to rob the man. Schulz stole $200 and a small amount of marijuana.
Assistant attorney general, Bill Klumpp, who prosecuted the case, said Schulz had left a voicemail message with a friend in the Martin County jail that "he had lived up to his name."
ADVERTISEMENT
Klumpp said the message referred to the verb on Schulz's chest. He said authorities have access to the jail's voicemail system.
He said state prosecutors took over the case because there was a conflict of interest with county prosecutors: a witness was the son of a secretary in that office.
