Christopher Rice Charged With Running Over, Killing Neighbor Paul Pfeifer

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A man is accused of intentionally running over and killing a neighbor in Brooklyn Park over the weekend.

Christopher Rice, 46, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one with intent and one without, and one count of criminal vehicular homicide, court documents filed in Hennepin County Wednesday show.

According to the complaint, Brooklyn Park police responded to Scott Circle North Saturday, finding a man later identified as Paul Pfeifer receiving CPR at the end of a driveway.

Pfeifer was taken to the hospital, where he was declared dead.

Witnesses, including Pfeifer's husband, said a driver in a black SUV hit Pfeifer. Police found a similar vehicle near the scene of the incident.

The vehicle's registrant, a woman, soon showed up at the scene, and said her live-in boyfriend, Rice, "would have been driving the vehicle at the time of the incident," the complaint states.

The woman took officers to her home, where they found Rice "mumbling to himself and incoherent." The complaint describes his behavior as erratic.

Rice, who is under civil commitment for a first-degree aggravated robbery charge and has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, and catatonia, told police that voices in his head told him to hit Pfeifer. He said he had prescription medications but had not taken them for a month, according to the complaint.

Rice is in custody.

Pfeifer's family said they believe Rice tried to run him over days before the fatal incident.

"There's just a lot of hate in this world, and unfortunately it reared its ugly head this last weekend, and our family is grieving because of that," AJ Mansour, Pfeifer's nephew, said.