By Jeff Kiger
Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN
DODGE CENTER — A Dodge Center man who is husband and father of two people killed Saturday night remains hospitalized today and is a "person of interest" in the slayings, the Dodge County Sheriff says.
Nicholas Bugarin, 12, and his mother, Teresa Bugarin, 27, a 2007 graduate of Riverland Community College, died Saturday. Nicholas died from stab wounds, while Teresa’s cause of death has not been identified. Witnesses say she was shot.
Nicholas ran to a nearby mobile home with his two younger sisters. All three had been stabbed, although Nicholas’ injuries were the most severe.
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The deaths happened about 6:45 p.m. Saturday, according to Sheriff Gary Thompson. He said the sheriff’s department received a 911 call from the Valley View Mobile Home Park saying a boy had been stabbed. When officers arrived, they found Ismael Nicholas Bugarin and his two sisters, Jasmine, 8, and Sabrina, 5. The girls had stab wounds and were taken to Saint Marys Hospital by ambulance.
Thompson said deputies found the children’s mother dead at her home. The father, 33-year-old Ismael Bugarin, also was hurt. He was airlifted to Saint Marys Hospital for his injuries. He was not in custody as of 11 a.m. today, Thompson said.
Mark Catalan was at the Castellanos family’s mobile home, which is next to the Bugarin home, playing video games Saturday night when he heard screams and went into the other room. Nicholas, who has been friends with Catalan for the past three years, was on the floor bleeding from neck wounds.
"He could talk, but just barely," Catalan said today. "He said he was having trouble breathing and that he was really tired."
The Castellanos family, where the victims sought help, is new to the park. They called 911. Catalan, along with Carlos Castellanos, 13, were both friends with Nicholas. They stayed with Nicholas as he died in the arms of Carlos’ father, Catalan said.
The two boys played on the same Triton Middle School football and basketball teams; Catalan said the Bugarin family never missed a game. When they weren’t playing sports, the two friends spent time together almost every day after school.
"He seemed happy … he was really funny," Catalan said of his friend.
Nicholas loved going to movies and really enjoyed sports, he added. The friends were looking forward to basketball practice starting in the next couple of weeks.
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Catalan described Teresa Bugarin as nice and said that she seemed alike a good mom. He didn’t know of her working anywhere, but he did believe she had recently studied hair styling.
Tersea Bugarin of Dodge Center is listed as graduating from Riverland Community College in 2007. In September of that year, the state of Minnesota issued a cosmetologist’s license to Teresa Burgarin of Dodge Center.
Neighbors say the Bugarins moved in during summer and seemed like a happy family.
"It shocked the whole trailer park," said Wanda Eastman, who lives nearby. She heard about the attack about 9 p.m. Saturday. Worried about the children, she went to the Castellanos’ mobile home and learned that they had been taken away by ambulance.
