Charges: Suspect in Mankato Kwik Trip stabbing was hearing voices, in a ‘blunt rage’

The suspect in a fatal stabbing at a Kwik Trip in Mankato this week has been charged with murder.

Michael Lee Miller, 28, of Mankato, was charged Wednesday with one count of second-degree murder, according to court documents.

RELATED: Kwik Trip employee stabbed to death in Mankato; suspect arrested

Miller was charged in connection with a Tuesday stabbing inside a Kwik Trip at Madison Avenue and Bassett Street that killed 34-year-Dennis Vosika.

An employee who witnessed the stabbing told police Miller came in with a large knife shortly before 3 a.m., took some meat from the refrigeration section, opened it with the knife and started eating it. Miller then got a water bottle from the cooler, according to the criminal complaint.

The witness told Miller he needed to pay for the items and the victim and witness called the police.

The complaint states that the witness went into a back room to get photos for law enforcement and Miller began hitting the glass on the door until it broke.

Surveillance footage then shows Miller walk behind the counter and corner the victim behind the register before throwing him to the ground, according to the complaint.

Miller then stabbed the victim multiple times and ran away from the gas station.

The complaint states Miller was later taken into custody at his home.

While speaking to police, Miller told them he went to the Kwik Trip because “like God is telling me.” He said he was hearing voices and stated, “I wasn’t going to knife the guy at first. I was just gonna set it on fire, the place on fire.”

Miller also told law enforcement that after he smashed the window, he turned to the victim and started stabbing him, adding, “I smiled for some reason ’cause apparently something was working, but when he tried to escape me… that was a no for me. So I just, he tried to defend himself, but I got him.”

Authorities later recovered an approximately nine-inch blade from the dumpster at the gas station, according to the complaint.

Miller also told law enforcement he did not remember the stabbing and that he thought it was “blunt rage.”

In a statement on Tuesday, Kwik Trip CEO Scott Zietlow called Vosika’s death a “devastating loss for all of us” and said the company is working “to make sure that everyone feels safe and supported during this challenging time.”

Loved ones of Vosika say he was caring, kind and someone special. 

“His contagious smile and his laugh, [he] cared so much about people and was just happy,” Kelsey Ogren, longtime girlfriend of Voskia, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS about what made him special. 

“[His] family and I are just still trying to process it all,” she added. “Moving forward, as hard as it is, I know Dennis wouldn’t want me to be sad.”

For 16 years before his death, Ogren said Vosika had been battling kidney failure but still treated life like an adventure, something she says she now plans to do for him. 

A judge set Miller’s bail at $4 million on Thursday. His next hearing is scheduled for April 3.