Murder charge: As Burnsville police investigate missing 82-year-old, son says he killed and dismembered her a year ago

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
Updated ·4 min read
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When Burnsville police learned last month that an 82-year-old woman hadn’t been heard from for a year, they opened a missing person case.

Sandra Viola Mitteness’s 56-year-old son initially told police she was in South Dakota and then said she died in June 2022, but a funeral home indicated they hadn’t provided services.

Investigators interviewed Troy Michael Mitteness, who said he killed his mother at his Burnsville home “because he had spent all of her money, and she was becoming suspicious and wanted to see her finances,” according to a murder charge filed against him Monday. He said he then dismembered her and disposed of her remains.

Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena extended her sympathies to Sandra Mitteness’ family.

“The facts alleged in this case make it one of the most horrific and disturbing cases I’ve experienced in the course of my 34-year career,” she said in a statement. “I wish to thank the Burnsville Police Department for their doggedness into the investigation of the disappearance of Ms. Mitteness without which this case may have gone unsolved.”

Keena noted that elder abuse happens in various ways, including financial exploitation. People with concerns can reach the Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center at 844-880-1574 and get more information at ElderJusticeMN.org.

Mail theft inquiry leads to missing person investigation

Last month, police were investigating reports of mail theft allegedly committed by Troy Mitteness and discovered some proceeds from the thefts were deposited into an account belonging to Sandra Mitteness.

When police asked Troy Mitteness about his mother’s whereabouts, so they could inquire with her about the deposits, he gave varying accounts.

Police searched Mitteness’ home on Riverwood Drive, off Minnesota 13, regarding the mail thefts. They found an obituary for Sandra Mitteness that said she died June 14, 2022, though the funeral home told police they hadn’t provided post-mortem care.

Officers talked to several family members, who reported that Mitteness told them his mother fell down the stairs and was in a hospital in June 2022, according to the criminal complaint. They asked about visiting her at the hospital, but Mitteness said she had COVID and couldn’t have visitors.

Family members also said Mitteness sold his mother’s vehicle to a relative after he said she died. The relative said Mitteness “wanted to get rid of the … car quickly, even offering the car for free,” the complaint said.

The relative sold the car to another person and police found the new owner, who allowed officers to examine it. Police found preliminary indications of the presence of blood in the trunk, and the same at Mitteness’ home on stairs, and a mattress and box spring.

Son tells police of homicide

Detectives met with Mitteness and he agreed to talk to them.

He said he researched how to kill an elderly person without poison and “the best spots to stab someone to make their death quick and painless,” and decided to stab Sandra Mitteness while she was in her bed, according to the complaint.

Mitteness said he stabbed his mother in the neck on June 2, 2022, at his Burnsville home and, a couple of days later, dismembered her body, according to the complaint. He said he placed her remains in large plastic tote bins he had in his garage and drove toward Appleton, Minn., discarding parts of her body in the ditch as he drove “because he did not want to get caught,” the complaint said.

He said he left two of bins behind a dumpster at an abandoned rest stop on Minnesota 7 toward Willmar. Officers went to the location that Mitteness described and saw a large shipping container resembling a dumpster. The property owners reported the property was previously a rest stop and, after they bought it, they found two plastic bins behind the shipping container and moved them to a burn pile.

Officers found tote bins in the burn pile and collected them as evidence. They were the same type of bins that officers found in Mitteness’ garage while carrying out a search warrant of his home Thursday.

Mitteness made his first court appearance in the case Monday and bail was set at $2 million. An attorney for him couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

The homicide of Sanda Mitteness is the third dismemberment case that’s come to light in the Twin Cities in the last two weeks.

The Ramsey County attorney’s office charged Joseph Steven Jorgenson, 40, on June 30 with the murder of Manijeh “Mani” Starren, 33, and police said Friday he’s a “person of interest” in the homicide of Fanta Xayavong, 33.

Jorgenson, of Maplewood, had been in relationships with Starren and Xayavong at some point, according to St. Paul police. After Starren’s father reported her missing to police on May 1 and police were investigating, they learned Xayavong had not been seen since July 2021 and they opened a missing person case into her disappearance.

Police found Starren’s remains in a Woodbury storage unit on June 28 and Xayavong’s in a Coon Rapids storage unit on Thursday.

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