On a summer evening in Saint James, Minnesota, a family argument over a forgotten wedding anniversary escalated into a tragic double homicide. Rachel Elaine Linder, a 43-year-old White/Caucasian woman, and her mother, 67-year-old Joyce Ann Engelbrecht, were shot and killed on June 16, 2018. The perpetrator was Joyce's husband and Rachel's stepfather, Scott Francis Engelbrecht, who was 59 years old at the time.
The events of that fatal evening unfolded at the home Engelbrecht shared with
his wife. An argument began when Joyce confronted her husband about his failure to acknowledge their wedding anniversary, a recurring issue in their marriage. The dispute took a violent turn when Scott Engelbrecht retrieved a. 22-caliber rifle and shot Joyce in the head.
Rachel Linder, who was present in the home, reacted with horror, screaming, "You shot her, you bastard!". Her son, Dillion Mathias, who was in the basement, heard the commotion and ran upstairs. He saw his grandmother injured and his step-grandfather holding the rifle. Mathias attempted to use a stun gun on Engelbrecht, but was unsuccessful. He then fled back to the basement, locked himself in a bathroom, and called 911.
As Dillion was on the phone with emergency services, his mother, Rachel, tried to escape the house. Scott Engelbrecht pursued her and shot her multiple times. Rachel collapsed and died on the porch of a neighboring house. She had sustained three gunshot wounds, to her forearm, back, and a fatal close-range shot to the head. Joyce Engelbrecht was initially found alive by emergency responders but died from her injuries in the hospital the following day.
When police arrived at the scene, they found Scott Engelbrecht in the backyard with the rifle. He surrendered to the officers, admitting, "I shot her…I did it," and was taken into custody. He was subsequently charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of second-degree assault. These charges were later upgraded to include two counts of first-degree premeditated murder.
The trial was moved from Watonwan County to Brown County due to extensive media coverage. In November 2019, a jury found Scott Engelbrecht guilty on all counts, including two counts of first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of second-degree murder with intent, and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon for threatening his step-grandson. Following the conviction, Scott Engelbrecht was sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
