St. Paul cartel kidnapping: 4th suspect now facing charges
The shop along Payne Avenue in St. Paul where the victim was held. (FOX 9)
(FOX 9) - A fourth suspect is now facing charges connected to a kidnapping and beating in St. Paul that appears to be connected to a Mexican cartel.
SWAT response to kidnapping call
The backstory:
Three suspects were charged back on Jan. 7 after a tip about a possible kidnapping turned into a SWAT response along Payne Avenue in St. Paul, just steps away from the police department's Eastern District Station.
Thirty-year-old Richar Sanchez Mujica, 48-year-old Erling Soren Holdahl, and 39-year-old Kendra Johnson were charged with kidnapping for ransom and kidnapping to commit great bodily harm or terrorize.
The charges allege the trio were involved in the kidnapping of a man, who was held against his will and assaulted in the basement of a shop near the corner of Payne and Minnehaha Avenue.
The original tip came from a cartel informant who reported the victim was being held, tortured, and would be killed.
Speaking with police, Mujica denied involvement in the alleged kidnapping but admitted he owned money to the cartel and was working doing collections in Minnesota for the cartel.
Holdahl and Johnson also denied involvement in the kidnapping.
Fourth suspect charged
What's new?:
Timothy Duane Ripley, 45, is now charged with two counts of kidnapping in the case.
The criminal complaint against Ripley states he was arrested on the day of the kidnapping report but only charged with a drug crime as officers didn't have evidence of his involvement in the other crimes.
The complaint states Ripley was in a minivan with Mujica when police pulled them over. Ripley's phone was seized during that arrest.
Police say, in an attempt to get his phone back quicker, Ripley provided his security code to investigators. An analysis of the phone showed no activity the evening when the victim was brought to the Payne Avenue shop. Police say that was unusual for Ripley and the complaint alleges "the lack of phone activity" was "indicative of the phone being left at home to avoid law enforcement analysis and geolocations during criminal activity."
However, police say Ripley was regularly communicating with Mujica before and during the kidnapping. That night, after Ripley started using his phone again, Mujica sent a text saying "Tomorrow I pay you bro for sure."
Another text exchange between the two showed Mujica asking: "Bro did this guy had a gun when he came inn". Police say Ripley responded, "Nope." Ripley couldn't explain to officers why he had responded "nope" in the text thread.
The following morning, Mujica texted Ripley the Payne Avenue address, asking him if he was coming over. Ripley told police he was just picking up Mujica at the address.
Ripley's roommate told police they had seen Ripley return home the night of the kidnapping in Mujica's van. Police say surveillance video shows the minivan leaving the Payne Avenue address about 45 minutes before getting to Ripley's apartment on Lyn-Park Lane North in Minneapolis.