Mora man pleads guilty to overdose death in Aitkin County

AITKIN – A 33-year-old Mora man pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Aitkin County and was sentenced to more than two decades of probation.

Following a jury trial in April that ended in a mistrial when the jury was unable to reach a verdict, Stephen Michael Bochniak pleaded guilty in an Alford plea on May 15 to first-degree murder by sale/transfer/distribution of a controlled substance.

According to LawInfo.com, an Alford plea allows for the conviction of a defendant who maintains his or her innocence. An Alford plea of guilty means that the defendant has decided that it would be better to accept a known sentence than to try his or her luck in a criminal trial.

Before sentencing on July 10, Aitkin County Judge David Hermerding accepted a sentence reduction. The report states that the sentence reduction was accepted because Bochniak was particularly receptive to treatment and probation. The report also noted that the victim's family agreed with the sentence reduction.

Hermerding accepted Bochniak's confession and resignation and sentenced him to 125 months in prison, of which he will serve 25 years on probation.

Kristina Marie Krone, 44, of Hinckley, was also charged with alleged third-degree murder in connection with the overdose death on September 20, 2023.

After several court dates, the Krone case was dismissed by the Atikin County District Attorney's Office on May 3, 2024 for “jurisdictional reasons.”

According to the press release and court documents, the Aitkin County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call regarding an unresponsive man reported at 9:02 p.m. on June 18, 2023 in the 28000 block of 303rd Place in Malmo Township, southeast of Aitkin.

Deputies, first responders and North Memorial Health Ambulance staff arrived at the scene and attempted life-saving measures, including CPR and Narcan administration. These life-saving measures were unsuccessful and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene at approximately 9:40 p.m.

The victim's girlfriend stated that she had bought a pizza after work and came home when she noticed the garage door was open and the lights were on. She reportedly found the victim in a kneeling position, bent over at the waist, with his head on the ground and a beer in his hand. Nearby was foil with a burnt substance.

When officers arrived, they found the victim lying on the ground with his back against a John Deere lawn tractor. Aitkin first responders arrived on scene and began CPR.

Officers discovered a small empty bottle of Narcan on the floor, two hypodermic needles – one on the floor and one on an end table in the garage – and two pieces of foil on the end table next to the hypodermic needle. One piece of foil contained a black substance, the other piece of foil contained a small white powder substance, suspected to be fentanyl.

Based on evidence at the scene, it was believed the victim died from an overdose of a controlled substance and the Aitkin-Itasca-Mille Lacs Violent Crimes Enforcement Team began an investigation.

The Ramsey County Coroner later determined the cause of death was fentanyl poisoning.

On June 25, investigators met with the friend for a conversation and learned that she was introduced to Krone by a relative in the winter of 2023.

She stated that she had purchased fentanyl with Krone's help six times in the past few months. She stated that she would buy half a gram of fentanyl for $100 and Krone would keep half of the product for arranging the purchase. She stated that most of the purchases were made in public areas and with the involvement of third parties.

The friend said she contacted Krone between 10 and 11 a.m. on June 14 to pick her up in Sandstone. They went to Dollar General, where she gave Krone $100 to buy fentanyl. Krone got into a white van in the parking lot to buy half a gram of fentanyl. When Krone got out of the van, Krone gave her the fentanyl. After driving a short distance to another parking lot, she and Krone got into the van and smoked fentanyl.

Then on June 15, she stated the victim gave her $100 to buy more fentanyl and she invested another $100. She then contacted the defendant to buy more fentanyl. She was picked up by Krone in Hinckley behind Dollar General. Krone and the friend drove to an address on Commercial Avenue in Sandstone and met with Bochniak. She gave Bochniak $200 for a gram of fentanyl that was wrapped in foil. The friend said she smoked some fentanyl and then went home and gave most of the fentanyl to the victim.

On June 25, investigators viewed a Facebook post by Bochniak on GoFundMe asking for help raising money to get his vehicle back from Pine County. Investigators contacted East Central Minnesota VCET and learned that Bochniak was stopped in Pine County and a sniffer dog was used to search the vehicle. Fentanyl was found in Bochniak's vehicle.

In Minnesota, Violent Crime Enforcement Teams were established to improve the identification and apprehension of serious lawbreakers and to increase statewide law enforcement expertise for complex, cross-jurisdictional investigations.

The Aitkin County District Attorney's Office filed a probable cause complaint on September 20 and arrest warrants were issued.

TIM SPEIER, editor, can be reached on Twitter

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