Man convicted of murder in 2021 Brooklyn Park assault case sentenced to life in prison
A booking photo for Timothy Heller. (Hennepin County)
A man who was charged with murder in connection to a woman’s death last year was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.
According to a criminal complaint filed at the time, 44-year-old Timothy Heller assaulted the woman in a Brooklyn Park home before she was found dead in St. Paul.
Heller was charged with first- and second-degree murder and a jury convicted him of first-degree murder. According to the sentencing order, count two and the aggravating factors found by the jury remain unadjudicated.
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The criminal complaint filed at the time stated the owners of the Brooklyn Park home knew Heller was homeless and invited him to stay at the house for a short time amid the cold. Heller also asked the homeowners if his girlfriend, later identified as 36-year-old Lacy Jo Krube, would be able to stay as well, and they agreed.
The homeowners reportedly noticed Krube had visible bruises and facial injuries. Krube told the homeowners Heller caused the injuries.
When a physical altercation then broke out between Heller and one of the homeowners, Heller left.
The homeowners then dropped Krube at a house in St. Paul’s North End neighborhood, per her request, after she refused their offer to bring her to a hospital for treatment.
Krube’s friends at the home attempted to convince her to seek care, which she reportedly refused again. She complained of stomach pain and, when she lost consciousness, paramedics were called to the home. Krube reportedly never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her official cause of death was a ruptured stomach.