Burnsville Man Found Guilty of Killing Mother, Dismembering Body

Aug 13

A Dakota County jury on Wednesday found a Burnsville man guilty of killing his mother in 2022 after she began questioning her finances.

Jurors convicted 58-year-old Troy Michael Mitteness of first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree intentional murder in the death of 82-year-old Sandra Viola Mitteness at the home they shared on Riverwood Drive.

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According to court records, the case began in June 2023 when Burnsville police were investigating Mitteness for mail theft. During that investigation, officers discovered some stolen proceeds were deposited into Sandra Mitteness’ account. When asked about her whereabouts, Mitteness first claimed she was in South Dakota, then later said she had died on June 14, 2022. Investigators found an obituary at his home, but the funeral home listed denied ever handling her remains, and family members told police they had not seen her in months.

Relatives recalled Mitteness saying Sandra had fallen down the stairs and was in the hospital, but he claimed she had COVID and could not have visitors. Police later located her vehicle, sold to a family member and then resold, and preliminary tests on the trunk indicated the presence of blood.

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A July 2023 search of the home uncovered blood evidence on the stairs, as well as a heavily stained mattress and box spring. In an interview, Mitteness admitted he killed his mother on June 2, 2022, because he had spent her money and she was growing suspicious. He told detectives he had researched how to kill an elderly person without poison, decided to stab her while she slept, and searched for ways to make the death “quick and painless.” He said he stabbed her in the neck with a large kitchen knife, left her body for days, then dismembered her and placed the remains in plastic tote bins. Mitteness admitted driving toward Appleton, discarding body parts along the way, and leaving two totes behind a dumpster at an abandoned rest stop off Highway 7. Those bins were later recovered by investigators from a burn pile on the property.

Mitteness was initially charged in July 2023 with second-degree intentional murder while using a dangerous weapon, and a Dakota County grand jury later indicted him in December 2024 on both first- and second-degree murder counts.

Mitteness is scheduled to be sentenced on August 27 and will receive a mandatory life term without the possibility of release under Minnesota law for a first-degree murder conviction.

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