North Branch Man Sentenced After DNA Match Solves Cold-Case Rape

Oct 7

A North Branch man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for a 2010 sexual assault in Chisago County.

Investigators solved the case when they linked his DNA to the attack through a discarded cigarette butt nearly 14 years later.

> Sign up for the MN CRIME newsletter

According to court filings, 46-year-old Donald Edmund Warner pleaded guilty earlier this month to one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving penetration where the victim was placed in fear of great bodily harm. On Monday, a judge ordered Warner to serve 288 months at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud, with credit for 478 days already served. He will also be subject to lifetime conditional release and predatory offender registration.

The case stems from an assault reported on May 9, 2010. Deputies responded to a home in Stacy where a 26-year-old woman, visibly injured and distraught, told investigators she had been followed and knocked to the ground while walking home from a bar. She reported being threatened and assaulted by a man who told her he would break her neck if she screamed. Evidence was collected at Regions Hospital, including a sexual assault kit that revealed semen but at the time did not match any known suspect.

The case went unsolved for more than a decade until November 2023, when investigators identified Warner as a potential suspect. Surveillance in North Branch showed him discarding a cigarette butt, which was collected and tested by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The DNA matched semen from the 2010 assault kit. A subsequent warrant-obtained sample from Warner confirmed the match and he was arrested in Dec. 2023.

READ MORE > Chisago County coverage

While awaiting trial, Warner briefly escaped custody from the Chisago County Jail. Around 1:30 a.m., he slipped away during a supervised trash detail, sparking a large search involving deputies, state troopers and local police. He was captured about two hours later roughly one mile from the jail. Authorities have since ordered a review of jail security. He was also sentenced for the escape charge today and was given a 12-month consecutive sentence.

PREVIOUSLY: Inmate Captured After Early Morning Jail Escape in Chisago County

A Chisago County grand jury indicted Warner in early 2024 on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct: penetration while causing fear of great bodily harm, and penetration by force causing personal injury. Warner ultimately pleaded guilty to the first count in exchange for dismissal of the second. He had faced a life-sentence, however prosecutors agreed to the 24-year sentence as part of a plea agreement. Court documents show he also entered concurrent pleas in two other Chisago County cases involving attempted first-degree criminal sexual conduct from 2011 and 2017. He received sentences of 90 and 180 months in those cases, to run at the same time as the 288-month term.

As part of his sentencing, Warner was ordered to provide a DNA sample and comply with lifetime registration requirements. The court said the upward departure from guidelines was due to the victim’s vulnerability and the violent nature of the assault. The order also noted prosecutors may later seek his civil commitment as a sexually dangerous person.

> See more of our latest coverage