Minnesota man guilty of hiding 4 corpses in the Town of Sheridan sentenced to 16 years in prison
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A Minnesota man guilty of hiding the bodies of four murder victims in a corn field in the Town of Sheridan in September of 2021 has been sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Darren L. Osborne, age 59, appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court for a sentencing hearing before Judge James Peterson on January 23.
In addition to 16 years in prison, Judge Peterson also ordered eight years of extended supervision after Osborne has completed the prison sentence, according to on-line court records.
Osborne was charged with four felony counts of hiding a corpse as a party to a crime and was convicted by a Dunn County jury in October of 2024.
Antoine Suggs, who is Osborne’s son, was convicted by a Ramsey County, Minnesota, jury on four counts of second degree murder (with intent, not premeditated) in March of 2023, and was sentenced in May of 2023 to 103 years in prison.
The four victims were identified as Nitosha Lee Flug-Presley (age 30) (found in the front passenger seat of the SUV); Jasmine Christine Sturm (age 31) (rear passenger side); Loyace Foreman III (age 35) (center rear seat); Matthew Isiah Pettus (age 26) (rear driver’s side seat).
Suggs shot the victims where they were sitting in the SUV that he was driving. The murders occurred around 3:45 a.m. in St. Paul on that September day. He then drove around with the dead victims, including stopping at the Bridge Stop in Wheeler, until the SUV was abandoned that afternoon in a corn field in the Town of Sheridan.
Osborne followed in another vehicle so he could give Suggs a ride back to Minnesota. He told investigators he did not know there were murder victims in the vehicle Suggs was driving.
Osborne is currently serving a prison sentence in Minnesota but will be eligible for parole in November.
He will begin serving his Wisconsin prison sentence concurrent to the Minnesota sentence.
No attorney
Osborne represented himself at trial.
Osborne had fired two attorneys previously, and a third attorney, who was representing him in a separate case of battery by a prisoner, declined to represent him in the trial pertaining to leaving the murder victims not far from the Sheridan town hall.
After firing his first two attorneys, on-line court records indicate that the Public Defender’s office had contacted dozens of attorneys, trying to find someone who could represent Osborne.
During the jury trial, Osborne asked to be removed from the courtroom several times. The judge also ordered Osborne to be removed from the courtroom.
Judge Peterson made a record for the court that “reflects raised voices and concerning behavior from safety measures.”
Battery
Osborne also was charged in Dunn County as a repeat offender with two felony counts of substantial battery intending bodily harm and battery by a prisoner.
At a court hearing December 9, 2024, Judge Peterson set a two-day trial in January with a final pre-trial hearing January 10.
During a court hearing January 16, Osborne pleaded guilty to the charge of battery by a prisoner, and the count of substantial battery intending bodily harm was dismissed but read into the record for sentencing.
Osborne told Judge Peterson that he wanted his attorney, Brian Braziel, removed from the battery case, and the court allowed the attorney to withdraw.
During a separate sentencing hearing January 23, Judge Peterson sentenced Osborne to two years in prison and two years of extended supervision on the charge of battery to a prisoner, to be served concurrently with the prison sentence for being a party to the crime of hiding the bodies of the four murder victims.
Before the sentencing hearing concluded, Judge Peterson ordered Osborne removed from the courtroom because of disruptive behavior, and several minutes later, Osborne continued his appearance at the sentencing by video from the Dunn County jail.
Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf spoke about the victim being struck 23 times and suffering six fractures as the result of Osborne’s assault on another prisoner in the Dunn County jail.
Jail incident
Osborne’s battery charges stemmed from an incident that occurred at the Dunn County jail on July 28, 2024.
After officers were called to respond to a disturbance in the dayroom, one officer observed the victim sitting on the floor in the dayroom, holding his face, with blood all over himself as well on the floor and the wall, according to the criminal complaint.
One of the inmates told officers that another inmate watched the same television show at 7 p.m. Sundays and that Osborne was watching the television. When the inmate asked about watching the show at 7 p.m., Osborne became angry and said he would not change the television because he was watching the Olympics.
When the inmate reached for the television remote, Osborne “got in his face.” The victim stepped between the two of them, and Osborne attacked the victim, according to the criminal complaint.
When officers reviewed the video tape from the dayroom, they observed what the inmate and the victim had described concerning the television show. Osborne charged at the victim, struck him with a closed fist and tackled him to the ground, the complaint states.
Later on, officers transported the victim to Mayo-Red Cedar where his injuries were evaluated. Among other injuries, the victim had broken bones in his face, according to the criminal complaint.
