[chris]

Lindsay Rae Shelltrack-Miller was convicted of second-degree murder without intent in the April 19, 2021, stabbing death of Justin Allen Berge behind her home in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Shelltrack-Miller, then 40, lived in the 1500 block of 9th Avenue North. Berge was 36. A summary of court records said they had been in a romantic relationship, had argued the night before and that she believed he was cheating.

Late that morning, surveillance video captured a physical confrontation in the alley behind her home. According to the criminal complaint, Shelltrack-Miller threw water on Berge, chased him into the alley, grabbed him from behind, kicked him and sprayed mace. Berge ran from her and later tried to pick up items from the ground. The video showed her pull an item from a fanny pack and stab him in the chest. She called 911 and said she had stabbed him. Berge was taken to St. Cloud Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Shelltrack-Miller stayed at the scene and told police she had stabbed Berge. She said she threw water on him, he came at her and threw her to the ground, and she stabbed him while he was over her. The complaint quoted her as saying she meant only to nick his chest as a warning because she was scared. The video showed Berge moving away from her before the stabbing.

During a recorded interview with St. Cloud police, Shelltrack-Miller was read her rights and agreed to talk. She told officers about the surveillance video and offered to show it to them, giving them access to her phone's Night Owl camera app. She was charged in Stearns County with one count of second-degree unintentional murder.

Shelltrack-Miller waived a jury and was tried by Judge Nathaniel Welte in a bench trial that ended at the end of October 2021. On December 9, 2021, Judge Welte found her guilty of second-degree murder without intent. She was sentenced on April 26, 2022, to 128 months, a little over ten and a half years, in prison, with credit for about a year of jail time already served. The Minnesota Court of Appeals heard her appeal, case A22-0987, on April 19, 2023. The outcome of that appeal has not been publicly reported.

The video is a police interview-room recording that runs about 80 minutes. It presents the interview itself and opens with a short narrated introduction naming the people involved.

[chris]

Part 2 of 2 of the recording described above.