In the small, rural community of Battle Lake, Minnesota, the life of Susan Muriel Kinnunen, a 57-year-old White/Caucasian female, was tragically cut short on November 21, 2022. On that Monday afternoon, the Otter Tail County Sheriff's Office was called to a residence to investigate a report of two deceased adults. Inside the home, they discovered the bodies of Kinnunen and a 59-year-old man named Steven Kern.
Authorities quickly determined that the incident was an apparent
murder-suicide. The investigation led the Sheriff's Office to believe that Kern had fatally shot Kinnunen before taking his own life. As the primary suspect was also deceased at the scene, no arrests were made in connection with Kinnunen's death. Officials assured the public that this was an isolated event and that there was no ongoing threat to the community. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office assisted the local sheriff's office in the investigation.
Susan, who was born on December 14, 1964, was remembered as an outgoing person who made new friends easily in the various places she lived throughout her life. She had built a career that took her to several states before she decided to settle in Battle Lake. She was a mother of three and a grandmother. Her death, a result of gun violence, left her family and the community to mourn the sudden and tragic loss.
