Minnesota lawmaker convicted of felony burglary for breaking into estranged stepmother鈥檚 home
Jul 18, 2025, 2:14 PM
Minnesota state Sen. Nicole Mitchell, D-Woodbury, is seen during the fifth day of her felony burglary trial, Friday, July 18, 2025, at Becker County District Court in Detroit Lakes, Minn. (Anna Paige/The Forum via AP, Pool)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(Anna Paige/The Forum via AP, Pool)
A Minnesota state senator was convicted of burglary Friday for breaking into her estranged stepmother鈥檚 home, allegedly in search of her father鈥檚 ashes and other mementos.
The jury found Nicole Mitchell, 51, guilty of first-degree burglary and possession of burglary tools.
The Democrat from the St. Paul suburb of Woodbury has maintained her innocence and refused to resign since her arrest in the early hours of April 22, 2024, at her stepmother鈥檚 home in the northwestern Minnesota city of Detroit Lakes.
Mitchell insisted in her testimony that she went there purely to check on her stepmother, who has Alzheimer鈥檚 disease. And she said she initially lied when she told police repeatedly the night of her arrest that she went there in search of her late father鈥檚 ashes and other items of sentimental value. She testified that she didn鈥檛 want to further upset her stepmother by expressing concern about her well-being.
