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Press Release

Red Lake Man Charged With Murder

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota

United States Attorney Gregory G. Brooker today announced a criminal complaint charging MICHAEL WAYNE WHITEFEATHER, 18, with murder in the second degree. WHITEFEATHER made his initial appearance earlier today before Magistrate Judge Huseby in United States District Court in Bemidji, Minnesota.

According to the complaint and law enforcement affidavit, on April 28, 2018, following a 911 call, investigators found the body of a male victim on a trail near the intersection of Highway 1 and Pike Creek on the Red Lake Indian Reservation. The subsequent autopsy indicated that the victim died of a gunshot wound to the head. Investigators located three spent yellow shotgun shells, two were found near the victim’s body and the third was found in a nearby field. Several witnesses reported to investigators that they heard multiple gunshots during the early morning hours of April 28, 2018, near the location where the victim’s body was found.

According to the complaint and law enforcement affidavit, on May 2, 2018, investigators located and arrested WHITEFEATHER in Bemidji. During a post-Miranda interview, WHITEFEATHER admitted to possessing a pump-action shotgun and three yellow shotgun shells, and to shooting the victim in the head with the shotgun.

The FBI is still seeking individuals involved in this matter, if you have any information about their whereabouts please call the FBI at 763-569-8000.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Red Lake Department of Public Safety, the FBI Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, the Paul Bunyan Drug Task Force, the Bemidji Police Department, and the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deidre Y. Aanstad.

 

Defendant Information:                                                                                                                     

MICHAEL WAYNE WHITEFEATHER, 18

Red Lake, Minn.

Charges:

  • Murder in the second degree, 1 count

 

 

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United States Attorney’s Office, District of Minnesota: (612) 664-5600

 

 

 

 

The charges contained in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

 

Updated June 8, 2018
Topics
Indian Country Law and Justice
Project Safe Neighborhoods
Violent Crime
Component
USAO - Minnesota