2 sentenced in connection to Lino Lakes murder
Nicholas Zielinski and Melissa Zielinski (Anoka County Jail)
Two people have been sentenced in connection to a 2020 murder in Lino Lakes.
Nicholas and Melissa Madelyne Zielinski were both charged in the August 2020 death of 22-year-old Karl Mitchell Henderson.
Court records show 44-year-old Nicholas Walter Zielinski has been sentenced to more than 18 years in prison (225 months) at Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud. He was sentenced this morning in Anoka County.
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Zielinski entered a guilty plea to one count of second-degree intentional murder as part of a plea agreement. A separate charge of first-degree murder while committing a felony was dismissed.
He will receive credit for the 571 days he has already served.
Melissa Zielinski was given a life sentence for one count of first-degree intentional murder. A jury convicted her last month on that charge, plus one count of second-degree murder with intent and one count of second-degree murder without intent.
She was sentenced Wednesday afternoon in Anoka County and will get credit for 560 days served. No sentence was pronounced for the two second-degree murder convictions.
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A complaint states Henderson’s father arrived home and saw an SUV in the driveway he didn’t recognize, and when he went into the kitchen, he found a man and a woman he didn’t recognize.
The complaint said the man told the victim’s father “your son stole on me,” and “I’ll take you out, too.” The man and woman then drove away in the SUV in the driveway.
When the victim’s father went downstairs, he found Henderson face down in a pool of blood.
The complaint says a handgun was found on the floor near Henderson. DNA swabs from the grip developed a DNA profile that matched Nicholas Zielinski.