Authorities still searching for Pennington County homicide suspect on Saturday
Jul. 10—The search continues for a Pennington County man, suspected by the Sheriff's Office there of being involved in a homicide.
Authorities are searching for Erik James Reinbold, 44, in connection to a July 9 homicide in rural Pennington County, Minn., where Thief River Falls is located. A July 9 news release from the sheriff's office, urges people not to approach Reinbold as he may be armed. People with information as to his whereabouts, or who have seen him, are being urged to call the Pennington County Sheriff's Office, at 218-681-6161.
As of late Saturday afternoon, Reinbold remains at large.
In Decemeber 2018, Reinbold was sentenced to 60 months in prison after a jury found him guilty of possessing pipe bombs at a hunting property located near Oklee, Minn.
Investigators also found a 32-page notebook in Reinbold's desk, titled "How one person can make a difference: Instruction booklet at the HCU (homemade commando university)," according to court documents. The book, which bore Reinbold's name, was a manual on how to "start the second American Revolution and Win."
The notebook contained writings on how to survive in the wilderness, how to build bombs and how to identify enemies, including the police, "The Rich" and teacher conventions.
Federal court records show Reinbold was granted a "compassionate care" release on March 18. According to court documents, Reinbold argued that his medical issues and the need to return to help take care of his family warranted a reduction in his sentence. The request, filed in January, details that Reinbold's wife had contracted and recovered from COVID-19 at an earlier time and that Reinbold's parents have had to watch their children because of finding daycare had been difficult, they were also apprehensive about potentially contracting the virus.
Probation had concluded that he would "have the proper support system and means to provide to his family should the Court decide to release Mr. Reinbold on compassionate grounds," court documents said.
In a 28-page response, the prosecution argued that Reinbold should not be released because it believed Reinbold failed to exhaust administrative remedies and felt he had not established "extraordinary and compelling reasons" to support a sentence reduction.
"Early release would also fail to account for the seriousness of the offense," the court document said. Reinbold systematically set about creating five pipe bombs with unnerving attention to detail and destructive capability. His crime was not the result of a mere passing interest in the creation of one rudimentary bomb. Instead, it was clear from Reinbold's handwritten notes in both his copy of the Anarchist Cookbook and his own Notebook that he spent substantial time studying how to create pipe bombs."
In 2016, Reinbold pleaded guilty to a June 2015 incident where he repeatedly rammed his pickup into a vehicle occupied by his wife and children.
A federal warrant has been issued for Reinbold's arrest.
