A Duluth man on supervised release from a murder conviction has received a 19-year term for kidnapping and raping a woman on a northeastern Minnesota logging road more than 2½ years ago.
Duluth man who served 28 years in prison for murder is sentenced for kidnap, rape of woman in 2021
Dennis John Hannuksela was on supervised release at the time of the assault.
December 19, 2023 at 1:27PM
Dennis John Hannuksela, 64, was sentenced Monday in St. Louis County District Court to the maximum term under state guidelines after a jury convicted him last month of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping in connection with the assault in May 2021 north of Hwy. 53 and Swan Lake Road.
"The success in this case should be credited to the bravery of the survivor in her testimony before the jury as well as the exceptional investigative work led by the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office and assisted by the Duluth Police Department, Carlton County Sheriff's Office, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension," County Attorney Kim Maki said in a statement released after sentencing.
According to court documents:
Hannuksela and the 20-year-old woman, who considered him a father, were smoking marijuana together around 12:30 a.m. after he ditched a couch on a rural road north of Duluth.
Afterward, Hannuksela "got a strange look and then lunged at her," the criminal complaint read. The woman got out of his vehicle and ran down the road before Hannuksela tackled, zip-tied and raped her.
On the drive back into town, he kept her tied and said he would "buy her a car, get her nails fixed and would put her on his life insurance," the complaint continued.
The woman was dropped off at home about 3:30 a.m. She went to a hospital suffering from injuries to her wrists and bruises on her knees and legs.
Hannuksela was booked into the St. Louis County jail at 6:30 a.m. He denied the woman's allegations, saying "she would report something like this to try to extort money from him."
Authorities found zip ties and a pair of women's underwear in Hannuksela's vehicle.
Hannuksela, originally of Gilbert, was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1987 killing of 65-year-old Arthur Nelson of Landfall, Minn., whose bones were found on the Iron Range.
Hannuksela was sentenced to a life term with a minimum of 17 ½ years in prison. He served 28 years in prison and was placed on supervised release in 2017.
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