By Christina Killion Valdez
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
MANTORVILLE — Bail was set at $1 million on Wednesday for Ismael Bugarin, the 33-year-old Dodge Center man accused of killing his wife and son and trying to kill his two daughters.
Bugarin made his first appearance in Dodge District Court on Wednesday with his arms heavily bandaged. Authorities say his wounds were from his attempts to kill himself after his three children fled their trailer home on Nov. 8. He also had visible facial wounds.
Dodge County authorities say he tried to stab and kill his three children after shooting and stabbing his wife, Teresa, 27, in an argument at the family’s home. Bugarin’s son, Nick, attacked his father, stabbing him in the back twice, to help his sisters escape. All three children did escape, but Nick later died from knife wounds from his father, according to the criminal complaint against their father charging him with two felony counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
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Security was heightened at the courthouse in Mantorville for Bugarin’s bail hearing with Dodge District Judge Lawrence Agerter. Six officers were on duty in the courtroom, where there is traditionally only one security officer. No disruptions occurred.
Bugarin, who was listed in serious condition for more than a week after the slayings, was released from Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester on Monday. He is being held at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights, which is a maximum-security prison in Stillwater that can assist Bugarin with his medical needs, according to Dodge County Sheriff Gary Thompson. Bugarin returned to Stillwater after Wednesday’s hearing and will remain there until he is cleared by doctors to be transferred to the Steele County Detention Center in Owatonna, Thompson said.
No additional court hearings have been set.
Bugarin’s wife and son were buried Nov. 14. The daughters, Sabrina Bugarin, 6, and Jasmine Bugarin, 8, are being cared for by family in Byron.
