A long-running family feud turned deadly when a Minnesota man allegedly broke into a hunting cabin and murdered his father “execution style” while two other men looked on horrified.
Around 8:45 p.m. Friday, the Pine County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting at a cabin in Hinckley, approximately 80 miles north of Minneapolis.
The 911 caller informed dispatchers that two men arrived at his home and stated that the suspect, 31-year-old Kirk Edward Hazlett III, had shot his father, 62-year-old Kirk Edward Hazlett II, in the head at the cabin next door.
Deputies followed a 1.5-mile dirt road to the cabin, where they discovered the victim face down on the floor near a couch. He had nine gunshot wounds to his torso and head, according to the probable cause affidavit.
One of the surviving victims told deputies that the trio was finishing dinner when his phone alerted him to a motion-activated camera on the trail. He examined the live-view camera on his phone.
“Holy s—, someone just walked through our gate with a pistol in their hand,” the man, Kirk Edward Hazlett II’s brother, reportedly exclaimed.
He went to get his handgun in a bedroom, but the suspect burst through a side door, according to the affidavit.
He heard three gunshots. After exiting the main room, the man noticed the suspect standing with a gun and the victim lying on the floor. The suspect instructed the other two men to sit on the couch. They begged the younger Hazlett not to shoot them.
The elder Hazlett was still alive and “breathing a little bit,” according to one of the survivors. According to police, the suspect then approached his father and shot him in the head to “make sure” he was dead.
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After taking their phones, the suspect let the other two men leave. The other surviving victim described the murder to detectives as “execution style.”
According to the affidavit, the man stated that he entered with the intention of killing him.
Family members informed deputies that the suspect and victim “weren’t getting along and hadn’t for a long time.” The affidavit did not describe the disagreement or what prompted the suspect to allegedly murder his own father. Witnesses described the suspect as “very coherent” during the attack, police said.
Deputies located the suspect at his Cambridge home. A 2014 black Ford Fusion was found in the driveway, which deputies believe was the vehicle he used to get to the cabin.
Cops were called to the cabin about a month before the murder for a disturbance between the father and son following a night of drinking. According to cops, the father had his son trespass from the property.
The younger Hazlett was taken to the Pine County Jail and is being held on a $3 million bond. He faces second-degree murder, burglary, and kidnapping charges.
