A Dakota County grand jury returned an indictment against Troy Michael Mitteness, 57, with one count of premeditated first-degree murder and one count of intentional second-degree murder in the death of his mother, 82-year-old Sandra Viola Mitteness, announced Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena.
Mr. Mitteness was previously charged with intentional second-degree murder in this case.
According to the criminal complaint, Mitteness told detectives from the Burnsville Police Department he stabbed his mother at his Burnsville home in June 2022 because he had spent all of her money and she was becoming suspicious.
Days after she died, he dismembered her body and discarded her body parts from his moving vehicle into road ditches as he drove from Burnsville to Appleton, Minnesota.
If convicted, Mitteness could face life in prison without the possibility of parole, a mandatory term for the conviction of premeditated first-degree murder. Mr. Mitteness remains in custody at the Dakota County Jail.
The next court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 9, 2025, at 9 a.m. in Hastings.