BURNSVLLE, Minn. — A Burnsville man was charged with murdering and dismembering his elderly mother in June 2022 because she was becoming suspicious of what he was doing with her money. Charged was Troy Mitteness, 56. It’s a sordid tale. The criminal complaint alleges that Mittenes stabbed his 82-year-old mother in the back with a large kitchen knife while she was in her bed. He waited a couple of days, then dismembered the body, and dumped the remains — a few here, others there – as he drove west toward Willmar 100 miles away.
Mitteness. Matricide bail at $2 million.
Unraveling the case
Burnsville police were suspicious about proceeds from mail thefts being deposited into an account held by the mother, Sandra Mitteness. Investigators had questions. But they couldn’t find her. The son explained that she was in South Dakota. Then he contradicted himself and said she had died. He showed them an obituary. The funeral home, however, denied ever providing any services. A check of the mother’s car yielded traces of blood in the trunk. A search of her home found blood on the stairs and a mattress and box spring. Confronted, Mitteness admitted that he had spent all of his mother’s money and she had become suspicious. So he killed her.