A plea agreement calls for a 44-year-old man to receive a two-year sentence for beating another man to death at a woman’s home in Fridley.
Plea deal calls for 2-year sentence for defendant who beat man to death in Fridley
With credit for time in jail after his arrest, Brandon Watson is looking at less than a year in prison.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 22, 2024 at 6:42PM
Brandon P. Watson, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty Friday in Anoka County District Court to third-degree assault in connection with the death on Jan. 30, 2022, of Joseph D. Skogen, 45, of Coon Rapids.
With credit for time in jail after his arrest, Watson is expected to serve the first 11 ⅓ months in prison and the balance on supervised release. Sentencing before Judge Dyanna Street is scheduled for April 4.
As part of the plea deal, the County Attorney’s Office agreed to drop a more serious first-degree manslaughter count. Prosecutors also signed off on a concurrent sentence with two felony cases against Watson that he pleaded guilty to in Wright County District Court, one involving burglary and domestic assault and the other alleging fleeing police.
County Attorney’s Office spokesman Keith Ternes released a statement Monday that read the term agreed upon between the prosecution and the defense is consistent with the Minnesota sentencing guidelines.
Ternes’ statement did not elaborate on how the two sides agreed on a two-year term but did point out that Skogen’s “immediate family members who provided input to our office were understanding of this potential resolution.”
The criminal complaint did not explain why the assault occurred. Lisa Nourie, who shares a son with Watson, said Monday the men were at odds over another woman they both were interested in romantically.
Watson has a long criminal history in Minnesota that includes four convictions for domestic abuse, two for violating no-contact orders and one for domestic assault.
According to the complaint in the Anoka County case:
A sheriff’s detective, responding to a report of an assault, arrived at the fourplex in the 6500 block of NE. Pierce Street, where a woman said she was in her bedroom and heard loud banging coming from the stairwell.
She went downstairs and saw both men in the stairwell. Watson was at the bottom holding an unidentified object, and a bloodied Skogen was sitting at the top with face and head injuries. He fell unconscious and died at the scene.
The woman said Skogen was a guest at her home, and Watson arrived uninvited, became angry and soon began fighting with Skogen.
The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that along with the assault, “pre-existing medical conditions” not specified in the complaint were factors in Skogen’s death.
Republicans across the country benefited from favorable tailwinds as President-elect Donald Trump resoundingly defeated Democrat Kamala Harris. But that wasn’t the whole story in Minnesota.
