On October 5, 1990, the body of 40-year-old John Ben Loons, a Native American man, was discovered in his Duluth, Minnesota apartment. He was not alone; the body of his 50-year-old roommate, Ronald St. Germain, was also found on the living room floor. The scene was one of extreme violence, as both men had been subjected to a brutal attack that included multiple stab wounds, beatings, and slashed throats.
The events that culminated in this double homicide began to unfold earlier that same day with a violent domestic dispute.
The man responsible for the deaths was identified as Michael Shane Lefthand, a 30-year-old who had engaged in a violent altercation with his pregnant girlfriend, Lisa Morgan. After a failed attempt to slash her throat, Lefthand's rage seemingly redirected toward the apartment shared by Loons and St. Germain. He broke into their residence and proceeded to murder both men. The investigation moved swiftly, and on October 11, 1990, Lefthand was arrested for the murders of Loons and St. Germain, as well as the attempted murder of Morgan and her unborn child.
During his interrogations, Lefthand not only implicated himself in the recent slayings but also claimed responsibility for the 1985 murder of Harlen Christensen. He further confessed to additional homicides in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Texas, though authorities were unable to corroborate these other claims. Two of Lefthand's acquaintances, 18-year-old Charles Mark Bluebird and 32-year-old Donald Leroy Genung, were also arrested on suspicion of being accomplices in the murders of Loons and St. Germain. However, they were later released without being charged.
At his trial, Michael Shane Lefthand pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of his girlfriend and received an eight-year prison sentence. In June 1991, he was convicted of the murders of John Loons and Ronald St. Germain and was sentenced to life in prison. Although his first-degree murder conviction was overturned in 1992 due to a procedural issue, he was retried, found guilty once more, and resentenced to a life term. He is currently serving his sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Faribault.
