Danielle Jelinek was a 28-year-old woman from Oakdale, Minnesota who disappeared from her ex-boyfriend’s rural Chisago County home on the night of December 8, 2012. Her body was found 154 days later in a swampy pond about 300 yards from that home. The ex-boyfriend, Aaron Jude Schnagl, was later convicted of third-degree murder for supplying the cocaine that contributed to her death and sentenced to the maximum term of 160 months in prison.
Who Danielle Jelinek Was
Danielle Mary Jelinek, known to family and friends as “Dani” and “Dee,” was born February 1, 1985. She grew up in Cottage Grove, Minnesota and was living with her sister Cory in Oakdale when she disappeared. She was survived by her parents Jan and Ed Jelinek, her brother Jason and his wife Keri, her sister Cory, and three nephews.1Dignity Memorial. Danielle M. Jelinek Obituary A memorial service was held May 17, 2013 at Five Oaks Church in Woodbury. The family asked that donations go to the Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse and the Domestic Abuse Project.2Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Danielle Jelinek’s Funeral Set; Anti-Violence Memorials Preferred
Jelinek and Schnagl had an on-again, off-again history. Her sister later described the two as “on-and-off friends” rather than a couple and said Jelinek had been in a relationship with someone else at the time she went missing.3Star Tribune. Anguished Family of Missing Oakdale Woman Seeks Clues Court documents filed during the investigation included prior allegations that Schnagl had physically abused Jelinek on at least three occasions, with reports of choking, two black eyes, and being pushed from a moving vehicle. Schnagl acknowledged hitting her in the face before she disappeared but denied any role in what happened to her.4Patch. Documents in Missing Oakdale Woman Case Reveal New Details
The Night She Disappeared
On December 8, 2012, Jelinek spent the day at Schnagl’s home in Chisago Lake Township. She had told her sister she was meeting a girlfriend. At 7:25 a.m. the next morning, Schnagl texted one of Jelinek’s friends saying she “took off on foot last night she was all messed up its snowing I’m worried.”4Patch. Documents in Missing Oakdale Woman Case Reveal New Details Her family reported her missing later that day. A winter storm had dropped over a foot of snow, hampering any immediate search.5Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Body in Swamp Confirmed to Be Danielle Jelinek’s
When Chisago County deputies arrived for a welfare check that afternoon, they smelled marijuana and found inconsistencies in Schnagl’s account of the previous night. A search of the property turned up roughly 12 pounds of marijuana, ecstasy, and drug paraphernalia, which led to his arrest on drug charges and a probation violation tied to a 2006 Anoka County cocaine conviction.3Star Tribune. Anguished Family of Missing Oakdale Woman Seeks Clues Investigators also recovered blood-stained paper towels, paper towels soaked in bleach, and bloodstains in the master bedroom, on a stairway, and on a couch. Blood was found in Schnagl’s vehicle as well.6Star Tribune. Missing Woman Reportedly Was Abused by Man Who Last Saw Her Jelinek’s car, cellphone, purse, shoes, car keys, and asthma inhaler were all left behind at the house.
The 154-Day Search
The search ran through the winter and into the spring. Ground teams of volunteers covered the land around Schnagl’s residence. Dive teams searched Bone Lake and Moody Lake. Crime Stoppers posted a $1,000 reward in January; by April, the family had grown that reward to $25,000 and asked anglers on nearby lakes and streams to watch for any sign of her.7Hometown Source. Body of Missing Woman Found in Chisago County
On May 10, 2013, a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter flying a low, five-mile circle over Schnagl’s property spotted a body around 3 p.m. in a swampy area about 300 yards from his home.8CBS News. Body of Missing Minn. Woman Found Near Ex-Boyfriend’s Home The body was recovered after 7 p.m. that evening from about two feet of water in a shallow, reedy pond. Jelinek was clothed but had no shoes on.9Star Tribune. Body Found in Swamp Identified as Danielle Jelinek The medical examiner confirmed her identity. It was 154 days after she was reported missing, and, as her family would later note at sentencing, it was her parents’ 40th wedding anniversary.
What Killed Her
The autopsy did not identify a definitive cause of death.10CBS News Minnesota. Jurors Return to Court for Second Day of Jelinek Murder Trial Toxicology found both alcohol and cocaine in Jelinek’s system. The forensic pathologist who later testified at trial said death could have resulted from cocaine toxicity, hypothermia, or drowning, but concluded that cocaine likely contributed.11Minnesota Lawyer. Appellant’s Joint Acquisition Theory Doesn’t Stand Up That ambiguity shaped everything that followed.
How Prosecutors Built a Murder Case Around Cocaine
A year passed before charges came. On December 16, 2013, a Chisago County grand jury indicted Schnagl on one count of third-degree murder, alleging he caused Jelinek’s death by providing her the cocaine.12Star Tribune. Grand Jury Indicts Man in Danielle Jelinek’s Murder Minnesota’s third-degree murder statute allows the charge when a person proximately causes a death by unlawfully selling, giving away, delivering, or administering a controlled substance.13Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Statutes Section 609.195, Murder in the Third Degree
Because prosecutors went to a grand jury rather than filing a complaint, Chisago County Attorney Janet Reiter released few details publicly. Defense attorney Rachael Goldberger said the defense had received nothing from prosecutors for a year before the indictment came down suddenly.14Chisago County Press. Indictment Alleges Schnagl Unintentionally Responsible for Jelinek’s Death By then Schnagl was already incarcerated at the Moose Lake Correctional Facility on a separate cocaine possession case.
The path to trial was slow. A March 2015 trial date was postponed. Jury selection began in June 2015 but was halted after late disclosure of witness statements, and the trial was delayed indefinitely.15Star Tribune. Danielle Jelinek Murder Trial Delayed Indefinitely
The Trial and Verdict
The four-week trial began in January 2016 before Judge Todd Schoffelman in Chisago County District Court, with Assistant County Attorney Nick Hydukovich leading the prosecution.
The state’s theory was that Schnagl was a drug dealer whose livelihood was at risk when Jelinek overdosed in his home. Hydukovich told the jury that “for the defendant, the life of Danielle Jelinek was the cost of doing business,” arguing Schnagl dumped her body in a pond to protect his operation.16CBS News Minnesota. Closing Arguments Expected in Jelinek Murder Trial Prosecutors pointed to security alarm triggers at the house at 3 a.m. as evidence of body movement and noted that Schnagl made numerous phone calls afterward but never called law enforcement. The state also argued the statute did not require proof that cocaine was the sole cause of death, only that it played a role.17Chisago County Press. Jury Finds Schnagl Guilty of Third-Degree Homicide
Defense attorney Melvin Welch argued that Jelinek had obtained the cocaine from someone else and left Schnagl’s home on her own in a drugged state, succumbing to the elements or falling into the slough. He accused prosecutors of cherry-picking the source of the cocaine and relying on inconsistent evidence and unreliable witnesses, and criticized the state for granting immunity to a third party who had supplied drugs and then testified for the prosecution.16CBS News Minnesota. Closing Arguments Expected in Jelinek Murder Trial On the final day, Welch asked the judge to let the jury consider second-degree manslaughter as a lesser charge. Judge Schoffelman declined.17Chisago County Press. Jury Finds Schnagl Guilty of Third-Degree Homicide
On the afternoon of February 5, 2016, the jury returned a guilty verdict on third-degree unintentional murder. Schnagl was acquitted of a separate count of tampering with Jelinek’s body.
Sentencing
Schnagl was sentenced on June 24, 2016. Judge Schoffelman imposed 160 months, the maximum allowed for third-degree murder, to run concurrently with the seven-year sentence Schnagl was already serving on his drug convictions. He received credit for roughly three and a half years already served.18Star Tribune. Chisago County Man Gets More Than 13 Years in Prison for Death of Danielle Jelinek Hydukovich told the court Schnagl “profited from the misery and addiction of others for years” and “has done everything in his power to avoid responsibility for his crime.”
Six Jelinek family members gave victim impact statements. Her mother, Jan, said the day her daughter was found, the parents’ anniversary, had become “simply a date on the calendar,” and that the discovery brought no closure; she described Danielle as “the essence of love.” Her sister Cory said she would “give anything to hug you one last time, to hear you laugh, to see your smile light up the room.” Her brother Jason said the days were “filled with sorrow and sadness.” Her aunt Lynn Bury told her niece, “We have somehow managed to survive the unmanageable.”19CBS News Minnesota. Aaron Schnagl Sentenced
The Appeals
Schnagl brought two appeals to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Both were denied.
The first, decided August 28, 2017, challenged his earlier Alford plea to aiding-and-abetting second-degree cocaine possession. He argued the plea was involuntary because it came as part of a package deal that included an agreement not to charge his mother. The court found no coercive effect, pointing out that Schnagl himself had proposed the leniency for his mother, and dismissed his claim that testimony from his murder trial counted as newly discovered evidence, calling it “merely impeaching.”20Justia. State v. Schnagl, A16-1998
The second appeal, decided December 18, 2017, attacked the murder conviction itself. The central argument was that the trial court should have instructed the jury on a “joint acquisition” theory, the idea that he and Jelinek had jointly purchased the cocaine rather than him supplying it. Schnagl relied on the 1992 Minnesota Supreme Court decision in State v. Carithers, which barred third-degree murder liability when two people jointly acquire drugs and one dies. The Court of Appeals rejected the argument, reading Carithers as a narrow ruling limited to the “unique circumstances of a married couple” and not reaching unmarried individuals.21FindLaw. State v. Schnagl, A16-1509 The court also upheld the sufficiency of the evidence, reasoning that a jury could reasonably infer “cocaine played a substantial role in bringing about Jelinek’s death, either by a fatal overdose or through irrational decisions that led to Jelinek succumbing to hypothermia or drowning.”11Minnesota Lawyer. Appellant’s Joint Acquisition Theory Doesn’t Stand Up Schnagl’s additional pro se arguments, including challenges to the grand jury indictment and claims of prosecutorial misconduct, were also rejected.