Randy Joseph Grubich, 45, the former Pinewood man charged June 1 with the stabbing death of his neighbor, Colin Kirkpatrick, is now in custody in the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter.
After testimony by a physician that Grubich was mentally ill and not competent to face prosecution, Beltrami County District Judge Shari Schluchter ruled Oct. 12 to stay the criminal proceedings and begin Grubich's civil commitment.
Beltrami County Attorney Tim Faver said Grubich's condition will be reviewed periodically, and if he becomes well enough for prosecution, he will return to court, and the criminal proceedings will resume.
Faver said with homicide, there's no time limit on how long a person can be in civil commitment or when criminal proceedings can continue.
Grubich was charged with serious felony second-degree murder June 1 in relation to the May 23 stabbing death of Kirkpatrick. According to the criminal complaint, the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office received a call at 11:30 a.m. May 26 from the Rev. Bob Kelly, who had recently returned to his home in Buzzle Township north of Pinewood and discovered the body of Kirkpatrick on the property. The body was found lying on the ground with the head up against the south wall of a cabin rented by Grubich.
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Kelly located Grubich a few hundred yards away from the cabin. Deputies went with Kelly and found Grubich. Kelly reported that he had seen Grubich at about 9 a.m. May 26, when Grubich walked past the Kellys' house. After he found the body, Kelly located Grubich, whom he had picked up May 22 at Beltrami County Jail and dropped off at Kirkpatrick's residence.
Grubich was in jail after being arrested and charged with felony terroristic threats in relation to incidents May 20. The complaint states that Grubich wouldn't speak May 26, but May 27, Grubich described to sheriff's deputies the sequence of events after his return to his cabin from jail. He told deputies Kirkpatrick had driven him to Bemidji to shop for groceries and tend to other errands.
The complaint states that the two went to Grubich's cabin to drink beer and listen to music. A fight ensued, during which Grubich pulled out a knife and stabbed Kirkpatrick in the face, according to the complaint.
The complaint continues that Grubich said he took some clean clothes from his cabin and stashed the clothes he had been wearing, along with the knife, by a tree near a pond. Deputies found the clothes wedged in a tree and a 6-inch-blade hunting knife nearby.
Kirkpatrick's body was taken to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner for an autopsy, which showed he had been stabbed twice in the face and four times in the lower left leg. It also showed what appeared to be a defensive injury, a cut on his left hand. The stab wound to the face broke his teeth and severed his carotid artery.
The cause of death was determined to be loss of blood from the stab wounds, and the manner of death was determined to be homicide.
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