Suspect In Brutal Killing Of Elderly Man Charged With 1st-Degree Murder

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO)-- An Anoka County grand jury indicted a 27-year-old man Tuesday of more serious charges in connection to the murder of a 95-year-old man during a home invasion last November.

The county attorney's office says Isaiah Montrell Thomas was previously charged last December with two counts of second-degree murder, but he now faces two counts of first-degree murder and a count of second-degree murder.

Thomas is accused of killing Al Loehlein sometime between Nov. 24 and Nov. 27 in his Anoka home. Police say Loehlein was brutally beaten to death, and his house was ransacked.

The criminal complaint says Thomas was in a vehicle that was pulled over by police on Nov. 30, and officers found a gold watch on him that was soon traced to Loehlein.

An informant also told police Thomas confessed to them about killing "that old man," and said he was planning to flee to California.

Thomas could face decades in prison if convicted. His next court date is Aug. 29.