A Minneapolis man was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Thursday for beating another man to death and then dumping his body in a Dakota County farm culvert.
Minneapolis man sentenced to 40 years for killing man whose body he dumped into culvert
The court found the crime was carried out with particular cruelty; sentenced was maximum allowed by the law.
August 13, 2022 at 2:43AM
Ivan Contreras-Sanchez, 41, was found guilty of second degree intentional murder on July 29 by a jury in the death Manuel Mandujano, according to a Hennepin County Attorney's Office news release. His presumptive sentence for intentional murder would have been 25.5 years, but the court found Contreras-Sanchez acted with particular cruelty and sentenced him to the maximum amount allowed by the law.
"I first want to express my condolences to the victim's family for the loss of their loved one," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said in the release. "This act of violence was particularly cruel and I am satisfied that the sentence reflects the heinous nature of this crime."
According to the charges, Contreras-Sanchez had called Mandujano, 39, of Minneapolis, a "snitch" the day he was beaten.
According to the criminal complaint: Mandujano's body was found in a Dakota County culvert on April 26. His hands were bound behind his back and his foot was impaled by a nail. An unspecified "device" found near his body was linked to Contreras-Sanchez's e-mail address. The device's location history led police to a gas station in Inver Grove Heights, where police recovered "digital evidence" of two cars arriving and one man buying a Lipton Brisk fruit punch drink. A bottle of the same drink was found near Mandujano's body, the charges said.
An informant told police Mandujano's body was moved after he was killed at a Minneapolis house. Police found evidence of blood spatter in the house's basement, and the renter allegedly told them she believed two men had beaten Mandujano.
Police arrested Contreras-Sanchez on Nov. 2. He denied involvement but later said he had gotten in a fight with Mandujano before the incident, saw others assault him and transported his body to Dakota County, the charges said.
Contreras-Sanchez also showed police videos from his cellphone that depicted him talking to Mandujano, whose eyes were swollen shut, according to the complaint. Blood covered Mandujano's face and clothes.
"That's what you get for being a snitch, right?" Contreras-Sanchez allegedly said in the video.
The governor said it may be 2027 or 2028 by the time the market catches up to demand.
