A Minnesota man was reportedly on “a mission” when he killed his father “execution style” in front of uncle and another man as they finished eating their dinner in their hunting cabin on Friday. The man broke into his father’s hunting cabin and shot him multiple times before fleeing the scene.
Kirk Edward Hazlett III is accused of firing nine shots at his father, Kirk Edward Hazlett II, 64, including one in his head, leaving him dead in a pool of blood on the living room floor of the rural hunting cabin. The harrowing incident took place in Pine County, according to police reports obtained by North Pine County News.
Killed Execution Style
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A 911 caller from the rural town of Hinckley told police that two men entered his home, claiming that Kirk Hazlett III, 31, had just shot his father, Kirk Hazlett II, at a nearby cabin, according to Law and Crime.
Deputies from the Pine County Sheriff’s Office drove about a mile and a half down a dirt road to reach the elder Hazlett’s hunting cabin on Barns Spring Road. There, they found him lying on the floor near the couch, with “a large amount of blood pooling on the ground near his head,” as detailed in court documents obtained by the Kansas City Star.
Several spent shell casings were found on the ground near the body, according to Fox 9.
An autopsy revealed that Hazlett II sustained nine gunshot wounds, including one that entered above his left ear and exited through his right forehead.
All the entrance wounds were from the back, which indicates that his son shot him from behind.
Police later interviewed two witnesses to the murder, who explained they were having dinner when Hazlett II’s brother received an alert on his cellphone. The notification, triggered by a trail camera at the property’s entrance, showed someone walking up the driveway carrying a gun.
“Holy s***, someone just walked through our gate with a pistol in their hand,” the brother reportedly warned.
According to the criminal complaint obtained by the outlet, Hazlett III entered the cabin through a side door and shot his father at least three times. When the gunman’s uncle returned, he found his brother lying on the floor near the couch.
“(He was) still alive and breathing a little bit.”
Killed in No Time
Another family member recounted that the suspected gunman entered without saying a word and began shooting immediately. “He entered with a mission … he entered to kill him,” the unidentified relative said, according to the report.
Hazlett III and his father had been estranged “for some time” due to the alleged killer’s strained relationship with the family, the report noted.
Confronted by two other relatives, Hazlett III allegedly ordered them to sit on the couch while they begged for their lives. Hazlett III reportedly turned and shot his father in the head “execution style” to “ensure he was dead,” according to The Kansas City Star.
He then instructed the two relatives to hand over their phones before allowing them to leave the cabin. The relatives rushed to a neighbor’s house and called the police.
When first responders arrived Hazlett III had already fled, and his father was declared dead at the scene, according to the Pine County sheriff.
Instead of hiding, Hazlett III returned to his home in Cambridge, about eight miles from the cabin, where he called the Isanti County Sheriff’s Office regarding an issue with his girlfriend.
He was arrested at his home and charged with second-degree murder, burglary, and kidnapping. Hazlett III is currently being held at the Pine County Sheriff’s Office on a $3 million bond.
In October, police were called to the cabin due to a disturbance between Hazlett III and his father. The angry son, reportedly drunk, had been threatening his father, according to the North Pine County News.
Hazlett II told the police that his son was not welcome at the cabin and had been banned from the property.
According to Hazlett III’s girlfriend, the two had a strained relationship with the family. She said that he was upset about a new security camera his family had installed near the cabin and frustrated that he hadn’t “tagged” a deer that year, the report stated.
