DNA on a cigarette butt leads to charges in unsolved Chisago County sexual assault cases

Authorities have arrested and charged a North Branch man in connection with two sexual assaults in Chisago County that have gone unsolved for years.

Donald Edmond Warner, 44, was arrested Dec. 15 in the sexual assault of a woman in 2010 and another woman in 2017. He is charged with first- and second-degree criminal sexual conduct, as well as first-degree attempted criminal sexual conduct.

Warner's first court appearance was on Dec. 18, and he has since been released on bond. His next court appearance is scheduled for March 11.

In a statement, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans said that advances in forensic science and investigative techniques helped investigators find Warner.

"This case is an example of why it is so important to never give up on any unsolved case," Evans said.

According to charging documents, Warner is suspected of assaulting a woman in Stacy on May 9, 2010. Just past midnight on that day, Chisago County Sheriff's deputies interviewed the 26-year-old woman, who struggled to tell them what happened.

The woman, who was dirty and visibly shaken, said she was walking on 315th Street in Stacy when she heard someone running behind her. She turned around and confronted a small-built man wearing a hat, who pushed her to the ground. She screamed but the man said he would kill her if she wasn't quiet, and raped her.

However, a lead sent in late November pointed to Warner as the person investigators had been looking for. Authorities watched Warner outside his home and collected a tossed cigarette butt, which had DNA resembling that on the sample taken in the 2010 assault.

Police obtained a search warrant for the house and interviewed Warren, who said he had lived in Stacy in 2010 but denied knowing the victim. Another DNA sample was collected from Warner and sent to the BCA, which confirmed the DNA match.

Authorities arrested Warren and notified the victim, who said she didn't know Warren and hadn't consented to sex with him.

Investigators found that Warren's DNA also was linked to a sexual assault in Lindstrom on July 16, 2017. In that case, a woman told authorities she was walking home from a local event about half past midnight when a man grabbed her from behind and began strangling her. She said he threatened to kill her if she screamed, dragged her into a neighbor's yard and assaulted her. She said the man told her to run home or else he would kill her.

DNA collected from Warner was tested and confirmed as a "possible contributor" to DNA collected from the Lindstrom woman's clothing.