Man Gets Life In Prison For Granite Falls Double Murder

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A 29-year-old man pleaded guilty Monday to murdering his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend last September.

Andrew Joseph Dikken pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Dikken was charged in the shooting deaths of 26-year-old Kara Ann Monson and 28-year-old Christopher Allen Panitzke.

In the early morning hours of Sept. 2, Dikken shot Monson and Panitzke as they slept in Granite Falls, Minn., officials said. Both Monson and Panitzke suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

Police found Monson dead at the scene. Panitzke later died at a hospital.

Dikken was missing for more than two weeks after the shooting. Family members eventually brought him in to authorities.