Murder charges: St. Paul man shot victim in back during October robbery attempt

A St. Paul man fatally shot his victim in the back with an AK-47 style gun during a robbery attempt last October, according to murder charges filed Wednesday.

The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office charged Kastedell Thomas Jr. of St. Paul with two counts of second degree murder in the killing of 42-year-old Nicholas Sletten of Little Canada in an attempted robbery minutes after Sletten drove Thomas and at least three others to a Speedway gas station in Roseville.

According to charging documents, Thomas and another man may have tried to rob Sletten for marijuana and M30 pills, which often contain fentanyl.

Officers found Sletten lying on a boulevard near Jackson Street and Wheelock Parkway at about 9:25 p.m. on Oct. 14, 2024.

He was immobile and struggling to breathe when officers arrived, but his condition worsened before paramedics brought him to Regions Hospital. Sletten was pronounced dead a short time later from a gunshot wound to the back.

Investigators canvassed the scene, noticing a bullet hole in the driver door of Sletten’s Chevy Silverado which also pierced Sletten’s arm rest. His sister-in-law said Sletten left the house earlier that night. She said she messaged him at 9:34 p.m. to let him know that his his dogs ran to her home. She didn’t hear or see the shooting, but said Sletten sometimes sold marijuana and used M30 pills. She was unsure if he sold pills, too.

Video footage captured three people running south from Jackson Street minutes after the shooting, and a witness told police that he heard the shooting and believed Sletten was shot by one of the passengers.

Investigators towed Sletten’s truck for evidence, finding DNA samples and one bullet casing. They matched those samples on Nov. 6, 2024, to Thomas.

Two witnesses interviewed by police admitted to being in the truck with Thomas. One claimed Thomas was seated behind Sletten when he reached under Sletten’s seat to brandish an AK-47 style gun, shooting him before they fled the vehicle. He says Thomas deleted his Facebook account about a week afterward.

A second witness claimed Sletten drove the group to the Speedway gas station at 2295 Rice St. in Roseville moments before the shooting. Everyone but Thomas and Sletten entered the store. When others returned to the truck, the witness said Thomas and another man called Dott produced guns to try robbing Sletten.

He said Thomas had a Mini Draco AK-style gun and Dott had a Glock pistol with a switch clip attached. Attorney General Keith Ellison recently sued Glock for making weapons that can be easily converted into automatic weapons with a switch.

“Thomas told [Sletten] not to move or reach for anything,” the charging documents read. “Thomas reached around the driver’s seat and stuck his gun into the side of [Sletten’s] body. Thomas shot [him], and they all fled the Silverado running back to Witness One’s house.”

That witness continued saying that Thomas and Dott cleaned their guns with bleach after the shooting, and he believes they tried robbing Sletten for pills or marijuana.

St. Paul police and the Ramsey County Violent Crimes Enforcement Team arrested Thomas and 11 others Tuesday during a joint operation targeting suspected fentanyl traffickers in downtown St. Paul. Four of those arrested were charged with felony narcotics sales, and one was charged in connection to a drive-by shooting in St. Paul on Dec. 31, 2024.

Thomas' next court appearance is scheduled for March 13.