Fugitive in Mendota Heights murder captured after more than 3 days

Lucifer Nguyen was captured late Monday night after a manhunt that lasted more than three days, the Dakota County Sheriff's Office confirmed.

The Sheriff's Office said he was arrested in Blaine about 11:30 p.m. He is being held in the Dakota County jail.

Nguyen, 44, was charged Monday afternoon with murder as part of a violent crime spree in the Mendota Heights area over the weekend as authorities tracked him across the east metro.

Earlier Monday, police said that Nguyen was last seen in Stillwater on Saturday.

Authorities believe he killed Beverly Cory in Mendota Heights on Saturday, then took her car to the Washington County fairgrounds in Lake Elmo, where it was found Sunday.

"Authorities have recently received witness reports that the suspect in that homicide, Lucifer Vincent Nguyen was seen in Stillwater on Saturday at approximately 4 p.m.," said a news release from Mendota Heights Police Chief Kelly McCarthy and Dakota County Sheriff Tim Leslie.

Cory, 48, was shot inside an office building on a commercial plaza near Hwy. 110 and Interstate 35E.

The Dakota County attorney's office charged Nguyen on Monday afternoon with second-degree murder with intent, first-degree burglary, two counts of first-degree aggravated robbery and kidnapping.

The charges don't provide any clearer sense of Nguyen's motives in a string of violent acts allegedly committed across the south metro.

According to the criminal complaint: Mendota Heights police were called to a local residence about 9 a.m.

The homeowner told police that a male matching Nguyen's description came to her front door, asked her if it was the "Miller" residence and left when he was told it wasn't.

The man drove away. But shortly afterward, the homeowner was in her bedroom with her 2-year-old grandchild when the same man entered the bedroom, held up a checkbook, grabbed a gun out from behind him and demanded cash.

The woman gave the man cash. He allegedly also took her wallet and then fled in his car.

Police responding to the home invasion saw Nguyen's car and stopped it. He stopped briefly, then fled at a high rate of speed, crashing and landing in a pond.

Nguyen was gone when police found the car.

At 9:07 a.m., police received a call that a man armed with a gun had forced his way into a senior care facility in Mendota Heights.

An employee told police that the man pulled a gun, forced her into a laundry room, took her wallet and fled.

As authorities evacuated the senior care facility, they received a report of what appeared to be blood inside an office building across the street, the complaint said.

Police found Cory inside the suite, dead from a single gunshot to the head.

Nguyen is described as East Asian, about 5 feet 5 and 150 pounds.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) said his last known address was in Minneapolis, but recent court records list a New Hope address.

His criminal history in Minnesota includes convictions for misdemeanor theft, careless driving and drunken driving.

He is scheduled to appear in a Superior, Wis., courtroom on Aug. 18 in connection with felony battery for allegedly punching another jail inmate six times, and for drug charges. At the time of the jail attack, Nguyen was in custody for allegedly possessing about a pound of methamphetamine.

Douglas County District Attorney Mark Fruehauf said Monday that Nguyen paid a total of $12,000 in bail for both cases. Nguyen's attorney in the matter could not be reached for comment.

Cory, of Maplewood, was a financial adviser for Edward Jones, which has offices in the building where the shooting occurred. Her LinkedIn page says she attended St. Catherine University in St. Paul.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Dakota County Sheriff's Office tip line at 651-438-8477. Updates will be posted on the sheriff's Facebook and Twitter accounts.