Minnesota Supreme Court will not hear Vossen competency appeal

The Minnesota Supreme Court says they will not hear Kandiyohi County’s appeal in the Algene Vossen murder case. Vossen, 80 of Sioux Falls, is charged with Intentional Second Degree Murder for the January 1974 stabbing death of Mae Herman in her Willmar home.

Last November Kandiyohi County Judge Steven Wentzell ruled Vossen, who has shown confusion and signs of memory loss, was not competent to stand trial, and ordered him released to the custody of his neice in Des Moines Iowa.

The Kandiyohi County Attorney’s office appealed Wentzell’s ruling to The Minnesota Court of Appeals, who upheld the ruling in May. The case was then appealed to the Minnesota Supreme Court, and on July 19th Chief Justice Lorie Gildea signed an order saying “Based upon all the files, records, and proceedings herein, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition of The State of Minnesota for further review be denied.”

Kandiyohi County Attorney Shane Baker has previously said he would see how the appeal process panned out before deciding if he would pursue having Vossen civilly committed to a treatment facility until he is able to stand trial, if ever.

(JP Cola, KWLM)