GUILTY MN - Officer Scott Patrick, 47, fatally shot, Mendota Heights, 30 July 2014

So far this year, according to the site, Patrick is the first peace officer in Minnesota and the 64th in the U.S. killed in the line of duty, a 7 percent increase in such deaths over last year. He is the 27th officer killed by gunfire, a 50 percent increase compared with 2013. There have been 28 auto-related deaths, a 17 percent spike.

more at...

http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_26247610/officer-down-chronicles-toll-police

Officer Down Memorial Page:

http://www.odmp.org/

officer_scott_patrick.jpg
Officer Scott Patrick
 
http://www.startribune.com/local/south/271317411.html

The day before Brian G. Fitch Sr. allegedly shot and killed Mendota Heights police officer Scott Patrick, court documents show he told his ex-girlfriend that he was prepared to use deadly force on police.

That detail was unveiled in search warrants filed in connection with the July 30 murder of Patrick, 47, the most senior officer in his department. Authorities allege that Fitch, 39, a career criminal with three warrants out for his arrest, shot Patrick about 12:20 p.m. that day during a routine traffic stop in West St. Paul.

Fitch is scheduled to make his first appearance Friday afternoon in Dakota County District Court on two counts of first-degree murder in Patrick’s death.
 
Man accused of killing officer held on $2.5M bail
The Associated Press 7:13 p.m. CDT August 15, 2014

Fitch is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in Dakota County in connection to the shooting. He's also facing charges in Ramsey County, where he was arrested following a shootout with police. A multi-county grand jury will review the charges and combine the cases in September.

Fitch was shot eight times during his arrest. He underwent at least one surgery, and is now out of the hospital. He will remain in the Oak Park Heights maximum security prison until his next court date.

Read more ....

http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/l...accused-killing-officer-held-m-bail/14142063/
 
http://www.kaaltv.com/article/stories/S3571290.shtml?cat=10219

Brian Fitch appeared for an arraignment Thursday in Dakota County. The 39-year-old Fitch is accused of fatally shooting Officer Scott Patrick during a traffic stop July 30 in West St. Paul.

A grand jury indicted Fitch on one count of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted first-degree murder for a shootout with police who arrested him in St. Paul that night. The indictment also charges Fitch with illegally possessing a gun.

All of the charges were combined into one case that will be prosecuted in Dakota County.
 
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/26630140/stand-up-for-scott-people-want-to-do-something

The man who admits to the murder of Mendota Heights Police Officer Scott Patrick was back in court Thursday morning, but the communities of Mendota Heights, West St. Paul and Lilydale are focusing on the good, not the evil. A huge fundraiser is in the works for this weekend, with all proceeds going to the fallen officer's wife and two daughters.

Owner Joe Schaefer and his family will throw open Moose Country's doors and parking lot for a mass benefit Saturday afternoon and evening in Lilydale. The gifts and the donations continue to pour into the back offices. "The community wanted to do something,” owner Joe Schaefer said. “It'll be a big event.”

The event, billed as Stand Up for Scott, will include bands, food, drinks, an auction of some incredible donated items, and a raffle with two brand new cars up for grabs.
 
http://www.startribune.com/local/south/279503392.html

Defense attorneys for Brian G. Fitch Sr., the man accused of shooting Mendota Heights police officer Scott Patrick on July 30, filed a motion Thursday asking a judge to suppress some of the evidence against him.

They also sought a change of venue for the trial, and asked to separate the charges filed jointly by Dakota and Ramsey counties.

A trial date for Fitch, 39, has been set for Jan. 12 in Dakota County District Court in Hastings.
 
http://www.startribune.com/local/south/288492711.html

Sliding a hand-drawn map under another inmate’s cell door, imprisoned murder defendant Brian G. Fitch tried to find someone to kill two key witnesses in his trial on charges of killing a police officer, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The witnesses he allegedly wanted dead were not named, but one placed him in the green Grand Am that sped away from the killing of Mendota Heights police officer Scott Patrick last July. The other told authorities that Fitch once said he would shoot a police officer if he were ever stopped by one, said prosecutor Phillip Prokopowicz.

The explosive details were among those revealed Tuesday morning in Stearns County District Court as jury selection commenced in Fitch’s trial... Agents at the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension determined that the handwriting on the map is Fitch’s. They also found Fitch’s fingerprints on the map, they said. Defense attorney Traub said she wants a continuance or the exclusion of the new evidence because she won’t have time to call an expert witness and also pick a jury.
 
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/ne...it-evidence-okd-trial-man-accused-killing-cop

Prosecutors will be allowed to present evidence that Brian Fitch Sr. plotted from prison before his trial in the slaying of a police officer to have two key witnesses killed.

The ruling by Dakota County District Court Judge Mary J. Theisen on Thursday came over strenuous objections from defense attorneys, who argued jurors will be “terrified” of Fitch if they hear such testimony.
 
http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_27334991/juror-chosen-fitch-trial-is-scared-her-life

After a week of jury selection in Brian Fitch Sr.'s trial for the slaying of a Mendota Heights police officer, the 56th try was the charm.

That is how many prospective jurors the judge and attorneys in the case interviewed before settling on a jury of 14 people just after 2 p.m. Friday. The group of seven men and seven women includes teachers, construction workers, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran and a health care worker who had given Fitch medication at the Stearns County Jail. Two jurors will eventually be identified as alternates.

Opening arguments in the case are scheduled for Tuesday morning. From there, the trial is expected to last at least two weeks.
 
http://www.startribune.com/local/south/289454631.html

A pair of chilling police videos that depict the final moments of Mendota Heights officer Scott Patrick’s life aired in court Thursday as prosecutors, finally given a chance to make opening statements in the delayed trial, laid out their evidence of how he was killed...

“Really there are no words when you hear the sounds that ended a family member’s life,” said Patrick’s half brother, Mike Brue, after seeing the videos taken by two cameras in Patrick’s squad car.

http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_27379138/witnesses-slaying-scott-patrick-unable-pick-fitch-out

The night before Scott Patrick was killed, an erratic Brian Fitch Sr. chastised his girlfriend for giving his name to police and vowed to shoot an officer if pulled over, the woman testified Friday.

Based on prosecutors' accounts, she is one of two witnesses whom Fitch tried from prison to have killed before his trial for Patrick's slaying.

Meanwhile, other witnesses who took the stand highlighted what defense attorneys say are inconsistencies with the prosecution's timeline of Fitch's movement that day and with eyewitness descriptions of Patrick's suspected shooter.

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/289586401.html

Thirteen witnesses in all were called Friday in the second day of testimony in Fitch’s trial, which is expected to last at least two weeks. A possible alibi for Fitch was among the day’s highlights, as was an emerging portrait of Fitch’s life last summer...
 
http://www.grandforksherald.com/new...ers-testify-about-fierce-gunfight-man-accused

On what would have been Mendota Heights police officer Scott Patrick’s 48th birthday, the two bullets that killed him were introduced in his murder trial.

Monday also saw testimony from the three police officers whom Patrick’s accused killer, Brian Fitch Sr., is charged with firing on during his arrest. A handful of people who were with Fitch that day — including two who were in the car when police caught up with him and unleashed a torrent of gunfire — also took the witness stand.
 
http://www.kare11.com/story/news/crime/2015/01/29/lab-tech-says-dna-on-gun-matches-fitch/22524309/

The defense has rested without calling a single witness, but legal wrangling remains in the murder trial of Brian Fitch Sr.

Lead defense attorney Lauri Traub entered just one item into evidence, playing audio from the shootout that took place at 67 West Sycamore between Fitch and an army of officers the same day Mendota Heights Police officer Scott Patrick was killed. The tape contained audio of a hail of bullets being fired, and lasted just 30 to 60 seconds. After that, she rested her case. Fitch Sr. declined to testify in his own behalf...

Closing arguments are expected Monday morning, with the jury getting the case immediately afterwards.
 
http://www.startribune.com/local/290670451.html

The jury in the Brian G. Fitch, Sr., murder trial spent 30 to 45 minutes deliberating before it voted Monday to convict the 40-year-old meth dealer for the murder of Mendota Heights police officer Scott Patrick, the jury foreman said...

At his sentencing on Wednesday, Fitch will receive an automatic life sentence without parole for the first-degree murder of Patrick on July 30 during a routine traffic stop.
 
http://www.enquirerherald.com/2015/02/04/3366490/life-behind-bars-for-man-convicted.html

A man convicted of killing a police officer in the Twin Cities last summer was sentenced Wednesday to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Brian Fitch Sr., 40, received the mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole for first-degree murder...

Fitch also was sentenced to more than 50 years in prison on attempted murder charges. He was convicted of firing at three St. Paul police officers who arrested him after a shootout later on the day Patrick was killed.
 

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