Hibbing Man Charged In Roommate's Brutal Murder

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 19-year-old Hibbing man was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder in the death of his roommate, according to the St. Louis County Attorney's Office.

Dylan Bernard Gilbertson is accused of brutally murdering 20-year-old Jaysen Greenwood sometime between May 18 and May 19.

The criminal complaint says Greenwood's body was found in a ditch by an old mining pit in Mt. Iron on May 19.

Investigators say his face had been severely beaten; he had been stabbed several times and had a broken knife blade in his chest. Police say he had also been set on fire after he was put in the ditch.

Police contacted Greenwood's father, who provided them with their son's apartment address in Hibbing. Investigators soon found that one of Greenwood's roommates – Gilbertson – was driving a car registered to Greenwood's stepfather.

Greenwood's father told police take he had seen the car parked in front of the apartment on the morning of May 18, but the car was not parked there the next morning.

Police drove by the apartment on the evening of May 20 and did not see the car, but they spotted it there about an hour later. Officers saw a gas can inside the car. The car's tires matched the tread patterns found at the pit where Greenwood was found.

Officers executed a search warrant a few hours later, where they saw what appeared to be multiple blood stains in the apartment, including on the ceiling, carpet, furniture and on a wooden paddle. They found a pair of blood-stained size 13 boots in a plastic bag. There was also a carpet shampooing machine on site.

Gilbertson told investigators Greenwood left the apartment without saying where he was going sometime between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. on May 18 and May 19, the day he started using Greenwood's car.

Gilbertson said he didn't go anywhere with the car during that time, but couldn't explain to police how the car moved from outside the apartment to inside the garage.

He also told police that blood inside the apartment was due to Greenwood shooting himself in the hand with a flare gun outside, then coming in to treat his wounds. Gilbertson said he helped the victim by making a splint out of wood for him.

The other roommates told investigators that the flare gun incident did happen, but there was no blood involved. They also identified the bloody boots as belonging to Greenwood, and Gilbertson had asked one of the roommates to have their mom lend him the carpet cleaning machine.

Another roommate told them Gilbertson thought Greenwood was stealing from him, and he had once said he wanted to stab him to death.

Gilbertson's bail has been set at $1 million. His next court appearance is on June 6. He could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted.