Man charged with attempted murder in connection to Emerado trailer fire
Jan. 3—GRAND FORKS — A Buxton, North Dakota man has been arrested for attempted murder after a New Year's Eve incident.
Jeffery Kollin Mundis, 29, is charged with class A felony attempted murder, as well as six class C felonies: aggravated assault, terrorizing, preventing arrest, simple assault on a law enforcement officer and two counts of contact by bodily fluids on law enforcement.
At 10:39 p.m. on Dec. 31, multiple emergency personnel were dispatched to a trailer fire in Emerado.
Upon arrival, the trailer was seen "fully engulfed with smoke and flames," according to an affidavit in the case.
Officers had already been informed of a fight at the residence prior to the fire, which was corroborated by Mundis bleeding from a wound on his face.
When a member of law enforcement tried to guide Mundis away from the fire, Mundis allegedly resisted arrest and otherwise escalated the situation by spitting blood at two law enforcement members, according to an affidavit.
A woman on the scene said she went to Buxton, North Dakota with Mundis, who is her friend, earlier that day. She brought Mundis to Emerado because she believed he was having a mental health crisis and wanted to help him, the affidavit said.
The woman said Mundis passed out from drinking too much alcohol at some point in the evening. Mundis woke up at 10 p.m., becoming very upset with the woman for unknown reasons before allegedly assaulting her.
The victim had to kick Mundis in the face and head, injuring his nose, in order to escape. She went to a friend's trailer down the road.
When the woman returned, the back bedroom was on fire, the affidavit said. She tried to get Mundis to leave but he allegedly refused.
Mundis is accused of grabbing the woman and pushing her into another bedroom, then holding her to the bed by the throat, the court docs say.
"If I'm going to die, you're going to die," Mundis said, according to the affidavit.
The woman hit and kicked Mundis and was able to escape the trailer.
Mundis' preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 6.
