NORTHFIELD, Minn. – A man who fled a burglary-gone-bad, and who was later arrested in Montana, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Nicholas Alan Taylor, 29, of South St. Paul, is the third person to plead guilty. A fourth person is scheduled for trial. The case began July 2 after deputies responded to a report of a burglary in progress. Before the deputies arrived, four people had fled in a car belonging to 55-year-old Chris Jon Fontaine, whose house, in Greenvale Township, was being burgled. He was dead in a bathroom with his hands and feet bound together and gagged with a glove and a rag. The autopsy concluded that he died of asphyxiation. The status of the cases:
> Timothy William Tuit. Age 36. Of South St. Paul. Captured the afternoon of the burglary after fleeing into the woods. Deputies hadstopped Lafontaine’s car, in which Tuit was riding. Has pleaded guilty. Yet to be sentenced.
> Stephanie Marie Peabody. Age 25. Of Welch. Arrested with Tuit. Has pleaded guilty. Yet to be sentenced.
> Nicholas Alan Taylor. Age 29. Of South St. Paul. Fled when when deputies stopped the Fontaine vehicle and eluded capture. Arrested later near Laurel, Montana, after his car crashed during a police chase. Has pleaded guilty. Yet to be sentenced.
> Ryann Elizabeth Smith. Age 22. Of White Bear Lake. Arrested in Montana with Taylor. Has pleaded innocent. Yet to be tried.
Taylor. Like a double date? Two couples.