Northfield Man Gets Nearly 5 Years For Killing Dogs In Burglaries

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 30-year-old man will spend nearly five years in prison for killing three dogs in connection with a May 2013 burglary spree in Northfield.

Matthew David Jensen had been charged with one count of first-degree burglary, four counts of second-degree burglary, torturing animals and fifth-degree drug possession in connection with incident.

Jensen pleaded guilty to charges on Sept. 18, 2014. He was sentenced Wednesday to 57 months in prison and must serve at least 38 months before he can quality for a supervised release program. He was given credit for 120 days served in the Rice County Jail.

According to the charges, Northfield Police were called to a home on the 700 block of College Street on the afternoon of May 8, 2013. Residents who called police said they found their two mini schnauser's dead. Authorities said one of the dogs had suffered blunt force trauma and possibly had been strangled, while the other had wounds consistent with being stabbed.

The residents also told police their Mac computer and Amazon Kindle had been stolen and a bag of quarters that were for their grandchildren were missing. The next day, a homeowner called police saying her Chinese crested powder puff dog was dead. Authorities said the dog was killed by blunt force trauma.

The complaint states Jensen told police he was prowling the area trying to find his cat. When police searched his residence, they said it smelled of marijuana. He told police he had just started using heroin and said, "This one… This can send me up for a long time." He added that he "thought he was done with all of this trouble."