A 30-year-old Minneapolis man was charged with murder Monday in the fatal shooting of a St. Paul woman after he and two other men burglarized her East Side apartment.
Albert G. McIntosh was charged in Ramsey County District Court with second-degree murder in the death of Sarah A. Wierstad. Wierstad, 24, was shot Oct. 18 after she arrived home from work shortly before 8 p.m. and found three men rummaging through her house in an apparent random burglary.
Since Thursday, three men — McIntosh, Isiah L. Harper, 26, of Minneapolis, and Alvin R. Bell, 24, address unknown — have been charged in the case. Harper was charged with first-degree aggravated robbery and first-degree burglary, while Bell was charged with second-degree murder after it was initially believed he fired the fatal shots.
"In light of this new information" involving McIntosh, however, the Ramsey County attorney's office is in the process of reexamining the charges against Bell. Amended charges could be filed in the next day or so, said spokeswoman Erica Schumacher.
Information pulled from criminal complaints filed against the men provides a narrative of what happened that night:
The men selected Wierstad's apartment in the Railroad Island neighborhood at random. Bell and McIntosh entered the unit to look for items when they heard a noise at the back door. A light turned on, and Wierstad stepped inside.
McIntosh pointed a gun at her, then Bell or McIntosh ordered her to the ground.
"She was on her knees," and McIntosh and Bell "were talking back and forth," the complaint against Harper stated.