1st-degree murder conviction for man who stabbed N. St. Paul woman who was found in burned apartment

A 42-year-old man has been convicted of fatally stabbing a woman in her North St. Paul apartment and setting it on fire.

Melvin Bilbro, who lived in the same building as his victim, was found guilty last week in a bench trial of first- and second-degree murder and first-degree arson in connection with the death on Aug. 25, 2022, of 43-year-old Shanna R. Daniels.

Sentencing for Bilbro is scheduled for March 19, when he will be given a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Bilbro’s criminal history in Minnesota also includes convictions for attempted second-degree murder, third-degree assault, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and auto theft.

Erica Whitaker-Logan said in an online campaign to raise money for the funeral that Daniels was her niece who survived cancer but whose “life was taken by her male partner. ... He struck without any warning, and my niece paid the ultimate price, which was tragically her life.”

According to the complaint, police arrived about 6:30 p.m. at the building in the 2200 block of South Avenue, saw black smoke coming from the third-floor apartment and heard someone yelling for help, but the smoke and fire kept them from entering. Firefighters doused the flames and found Daniels’ partly burned body in a bedroom.

An autopsy by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office found that Daniels had stab wounds to her head, neck and elsewhere. Given that Daniels “did not have visible soot in her airway,” the complaint read, “she died before the fire was started.”

One witness told law enforcement that Bilbro had gone into Daniels’ apartment about 15 minutes before the fire started, and another reported seeing him in her apartment at the time of the blaze. A police search of Daniels’ apartment turned up bloodied scissors and a bloodied folding knife with a broken tip.

During a search of Bilbro’s apartment, officers saw fresh blood in various locations. Also located in his apartment were keys to Daniels’ apartment and her small dog, covered in soot and smelling of smoke.

Police arrested Bilbro about 4:30 a.m. the next day on a trail leading from the apartment building.