Murder charges: Brooklyn Park man ran over and killed neighbor because 'voices' told him to
A Brooklyn Park man drove into a neighbor last week and killed him because voices in his head told him to, according to murder charges filed Wednesday.
Christopher D. Rice, 46, was charged Wednesday in Hennepin County District Court with one count each of second-degree murder with intent, second-degree murder without intent and criminal vehicular homicide.
Rice is accused of killing Paul Pfeifer about 10:30 p.m. on June 12 in the 9500 block of Scott Lane.
Court documents show that Rice has a history of mental health issues, was civilly committed in 2019 and was found incompetent to stand trial in a pending first-degree aggravated robbery case from last year. He is currently under civil commitment and diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and bipolar type with catatonia, court documents said.
According to the criminal complaint: Pfeifer was getting mail when he was struck by a black SUV at the end of his driveway.
Witnesses told police the SUV fled. The vehicle was found parked near the scene registered to a woman who lived in the area.
The woman arrived at the scene amid the investigation and told police that her live-in boyfriend, Rice, had access to the SUV.
The woman let police into her home, where they found Rice.
"Defendant was mumbling to himself and incoherent," the charges said. "Defendant told officers he hears things and sees lights. Defendant then admitted to driving and hitting somebody. Defendant told officers he is controlled by a man and the man controlled him to hit the victim with his vehicle."
After his arrest, Rice told police that he has schizophrenia and bipolar disease, and that he had not taken his medication for more than a month, the charges said.
"Defendant stated that while driving his vehicle, he saw a male at a mailbox," according to the complaint. "Defendant stated that the voices in his head told him that the person by the mailbox had done something bad to Defendant's mother."
Rice told police the voice instructed him to strike the victim, and that he had seen Pfeifer in the neighborhood but did not know him personally.
Rice told police he went to bed after striking Pfeifer.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman issued a written statement about the case Wednesday afternoon, calling Rice's actions "violent, disturbing and intentional."
"He took his girlfriend's vehicle and intentionally drove towards a male victim he had previously harassed who was retrieving mail at the end of his driveway," Freeman said. "Mr. Rice deliberately caused the death of an innocent man."
In a statement, issued earlier this week, Pfeifer's husband, Joseph Pfeifer St. James, said "hate is what killed him."
In an Instagram post, Pfeifer's nephew said his uncle was the "victim of hate" when he was intentionally run over.
"Today our family is grieving, deeply. Amidst this grief we are pleading for this level of hate to end," wrote AJ Mansour, the director of digital media for iHeartMedia.
Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708
Twitter: @ChaoStrib
