Bail set at $10 million cash for Eric Reinbold, the Oklee man accused of murdering his wife
Sep. 3—THIEF RIVER FALLS — A Pennington County judge has set a $10 million cash bail for Eric Reinbold, the Oklee, Minn., man charged for the murder of his wife and evaded police for three weeks.
Reinbold will be released without conditions if he pays the $10 million cash bail. Minnesota Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Tamara Yon also set conditional bail at $10 million surety or $5 million cash at Reinbold's initial appearance held Friday afternoon, Sept. 3.
Reinbold is facing two counts of murder in the second degree for the July death of his wife, Lissette Reinbold. Lissette was found at their Oklee farm on July 9, dead of an apparent puncture wound on her neck and multiple sharp force injuries due to assault, according to court documents. EMTs located the couple's three children in a camper about a half mile from the residence. One of the children said they had last seen their father around 9 or 10 p.m. the night before, and another told investigators that they had woken up around 6 or 7 a.m. and he was already gone.
Local and federal law enforcement searched for Reinbold for three weeks, when a trail cam placed by U.S. Marshals caught Reinbold on footage near an old homestead in Red Lake County. He was apprehended at about 12:30 a.m. Aug. 4.
Defense attorney Bruce Rivers asked Yon to set a lesser bail for Reinbold, citing his family ties to the community and his cooperation with his attorney, but Yon said she was concerned about Reinbold's previous attempts to flee law enforcement in this and other cases against him, as well as the significant concern of the community before he was apprehended.
Reinbold has had multiple run-ins with law enforcement in recent years. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to a 2015 incident in which he repeatedly rammed his vehicle into a vehicle containing Lissette and his children. In 2018, Reinbold was sentenced to federal prison for possessing pipe bombs. Investigators also found a 32-page manifesto bearing Reinbold's name on how to "start the second American Revolution and Win," according to court documents.
Reinbold was given an early "compassionate care" release from prison in March 2021 after successfully arguing that his medical issues and his need to take care of his family warranted a reduction in sentence.
At the hearing on Friday, attorneys also discussed a motion to obtain a handwriting sample from Reinbold, filed by prosecutors last week. At the hearing on Friday, Minnesota Assistant Attorney General John Gross, who is helping to prosecute the case, said the basis of that motion is a handwritten document found near Lissette's body in their garage.
According to a motion filed in court, the document read, in part, "Jesus forgive me of my sins," and does not bear a signature. Law enforcement has also obtained samples of Lissette's handwriting, according to documents.
There is still a significant amount of discovery to be conducted in the case, Gross said, and he estimated that about two thirds of their case has been sent to defense attorney Bruce Rivers as of Friday.
Rivers described the case as "voluminous," and estimated that there will be 3,000 to 4,000 pages of discovery when all is said and done.
Attorneys will meet with Yon in the coming weeks to schedule an omnibus hearing for a future date.
