Mankato Kwik Trip employee was stabbed 43 times, murder charges say

A 28-year-old man brought a knife into a Kwik Trip convenience store in Mankato, began eating snacks and then stabbed an employee 43 times, according to charges.

Michael Lee Miller, 28, was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder, with intent but not premeditation.

The Kwik Trip employee who died was identified as Dennis Vosika, 34, of Mankato, city spokesman Paul David said.

Police said officers arrived at the Kwik Trip at 1549 Madison Av. after 3 a.m. on Tuesday, after receiving a 911 call.

The officers saw broken glass and behind the counter an unresponsive Vosika surrounded by a large pool of blood.

An autopsy noted that Vosika had 43 “sharp force injuries.”

Officials said surveillance footage and a witness led them to identify the suspect as Miller, whom they described as a regular customer at the Kwik Trip.

Miller is said to have entered the convenience store with a knife with a 9-inch blade.

He began eating meat from a cooler and then drinking bottled water.

A witness told police that he told Miller that he needed to pay for the food. The witness told police that he then went to the back rooms and locked the door behind him, only for Miller to begin smashing his head on the glass door until it broke.

Police said surveillance video showed Miller confronting Vosika, cornering him behind the register, and then stabbing him.

Police arrested Miller at his Mankato home about a third of a mile away, the department said.

Miller told police that he went to the Kwik Trip with a knife and a lighter because “like, God is telling me,” the charging document said.

He is said to have told police that his intentions were to set the store on fire. Miller is also said to have told police that he did not remember using the knife.

Police said they found a bloody knife, bent at the point, in the dumpster where Miller said he threw it.

Kwik Trip is cooperating with law enforcement on the matter, the La Crosse, Wis.-based company’s CEO Scott Zietlow said in a statement Wednesday.

“It is with deep sorrow and a heavy heart that I write to inform you of an unimaginable tragedy that occurred at Store 344 in Mankato, MN, early this morning,” Zietlow said in the statement. “One of our coworkers was tragically stabbed and killed while on duty. This is a devastating loss for all of us, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.”

Mankato police are working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension on the investigation.