Hastings death investigation: William Eickholt died by homicide, examiner rules

Authorities rule Hastings death homicide

The death of a 74-year-old Hastings man has been declared a homicide by medical examiners, leaving his friends to wonder if he was targeted. FOX 9?s Leon Purvis has the latest developments.

HASTINGS, Minn. (FOX 9) - The death of 74-year-old William Eickholt was ruled a homicide Friday, after he was found dead in Hastings in February.

Hastings death ruled homicide

What we know:

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office ruled Eickholt's death a homicide about six months after he was found dead in Hastings. 

Eickholt died from a gunshot wound to the head, the medical examiner's report said. 

FOX 9 has reached out to the Washington County Sheriff's Office regarding Eickholt's death being ruled a homicide, and has yet to hear back. 

The backstory:

Eickholt was reported missing on Feb. 1, 2025, after authorities found a suspicious car fire at a Denmark Township property, with evidence that Eickholt had been injured. 

The next morning, Eickholt was found dead in a nearby ditch in Hastings. 

"Whoever did this went right to the first ditch in Hastings they could find, and dropped him off on the corner," Eickholt’s friend Mitch Carmody told FOX 9 at the time. "Everything was burnt. It was just something nefarious [that] happened."

Friends and locals in the area believe Eickholt could have been targeted because he was known to wear women’s clothing.