Sentencing rescheduled for Minnesota man guilty of hiding 4 corpses, trial set on battery charges
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A Dunn County judge has rescheduled a sentencing hearing for a Minnesota man guilty of helping to hide the bodies of four murder victims in a corn field and has set a trial on battery charges.
Darren L. Osborne, age 59, was initially scheduled to be sentenced December 13 after a Dunn County jury found him guilty following a three-day trial that started October 28 on four felony charges of hiding a corpse as a party to a crime.
Osborne appeared in court with his attorney, Brian Braziel, before Judge James Peterson for a motion hearing December 11.
Braziel appeared in court by video.
Osborne was charged in connection with helping his son, Antoine Suggs, hide the bodies of four murder victims in an SUV left in a corn field in the Town of Sheridan in September of 2021.
Suggs had murdered the four victims the night before in St. Paul.
Judge Peterson set bail for Osborne at $50,000 cash on May 31, 2024.
Osborne defended himself during the jury trial related to hiding the corpses, but Braziel is representing Osborne in a separate case in which Osborne is charged with substantial battery and battery by a prisoner for an incident at the Dunn County jail in July of this year.
Braziel asked the court for a new sentencing hearing so that an alternate pre-sentence investigation (PSI) can be completed, according to on-line court records.
Dunn County Assistant District Attorney Megan Kelly told the court she would not take a position on rescheduling the sentence hearing because the families of the victims would like to see a conclusion to the case.
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).
Judge Peterson rescheduled the sentencing hearing for February 14, 2025, at 2 p.m.
Battery
Osborne also is 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, Judge Peterson set a two-day trial in January with a final pre-trial hearing January 10.
The battery charges stem 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.
The officer observed playing cards all over the floor, and the television remote control was on the floor, and the batteries were out of the remote.
Most of the other jail prisoners were in their cells by that point.
Osborne was in his cell, yelling at the victim and saying he was “jumped by three guys,” while other inmates were yelling that Osborne was a liar, 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.
Osborne told officers that he had been stabbed, but when the officers looked at his arm, they could only see scratches, for which Osborne was given Bandaids and an alcohol prep pad to sterilize the scratches.
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.
Substantial battery is a Class I felony that carries a possible penalty, upon conviction, of a fine of up to $10,000 and/or up to three years and six months in prison.
Battery by a prisoner is a Class H felony that carries a possible penalty, upon conviction, of a fine of up to $10,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to six years.
Because Osborne was convicted of a felony in Minnesota of aiding an offender as an accomplice after the fact, under Wisconsin law, the penalty for substantial battery and for battery by a prisoner may be increased by four years in prison for each offense.
