Arrest Warrant Issued For Edina Man Charged With Murder In Mother's Fentanyl Overdose

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Authorities have issued a nationwide search warrant for a Twin Cities man accused of killing his mother by giving her counterfeit pain pills.

Scott Henkel, of Edina, is charged via warrant with third-degree murder, court documents filed in Hennepin County show. The 61-year-old is accused of giving his mother counterfeit opioids that contained fentanyl, leading to a fatal overdose.

Henkel is also charged with illegally having a gun and four felonies for possession of various controlled substances, from marijuana to methamphetamine.

Henkel has a prior felony drug conviction and is prohibited from possessing firearms.

Details In The Criminal Complaint

Henkel's 82-year-old mother died on Nov. 7 in the apartment he shared with her, investigators say.

Henkel told responding officers that his mother had recently undergone surgery and that he gave her an Aleve that morning to deal with the pain. When he returned from an errand, he found her unresponsive and called 911.

Toxicology testing later found that Henkel's mother died of a fentanyl overdose, the complaint states. She was never legally prescribed the opiate, according to her medical records.

These findings led investigators to search the apartment, where they found a loaded handgun, a suspected drug ledger, and various drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine, psychedelic mushrooms, and more than 20 pounds of marijuana.

Officials also searched Henkel's storage locker in Bloomington, which contained more drugs, including another 80 pounds of marijuana.

In a statement, Henkel told investigators that he only gave his mother Aleve and did not know how any fentanyl got into her system. While he admitted to possessing drugs, he said that only shared them with his friends.

A search of Henkel's phone records found a text exchange with a friend where he appears to ask for "oxi," short for oxycodone, for his mother.

According to investigators, it's common for counterfeit opioid painkillers to contain fentanyl instead of the active ingredient in legally prescribed pills.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 100 times more powerful than morphine.

In Minnesota, people can be charged with third-degree murder for illegally giving someone drugs on which they fatally overdose.