The Diane Fortenberry murder was the May 20, 2011 beating death of a 51-year-old Osakis, Minnesota woman who walked in on a burglar during her lunch break. The killer, 52-year-old Jeffery Allen Brooks of Alexandria, was arrested a week later, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
What Happened on May 20, 2011
Diane Fortenberry left work over her lunch break that Friday and drove home to let her dog out. The house sat along County Road 10 on the northwest side of Lake Osakis in Gordon Township, Todd County.1West Central Tribune. Osakis Woman Killed Friday at Her Home Died From Blunt Force Trauma When she stepped inside, she interrupted a burglary. The intruder beat her and fled with a 32-inch flat-screen television, a jewelry box containing Black Hills gold, a laptop, an Xbox, collector coins, and three credit cards.2CBS News Minnesota. Man Charged With Murder in Osakis Woman’s Death
Her son Colter came home from work around 4:40 p.m. and found her unresponsive. He called 911, and she was taken to Long Prairie Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.3Jamestown Sun. Osakis, Minn. Woman Killed in Her Home; Suspect at Large An autopsy the next day found she had died of blunt force trauma.4CBS News Minnesota. Osakis Woman Killed After Coming Home to Intruders
How Investigators Identified Jeffery Brooks
Between 15 and 20 investigators from the Todd County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension worked the case, and hundreds of tips came in from the public.5Echo Press. Arrest Made in Homicide The break came from a trash bin at a mobile home park in Alexandria, about 20 miles west of Osakis. Inside, investigators found a plastic Target bag holding shoes stained with Diane’s blood, and a garbage bag with stolen items from the home, including the Xbox and the jewelry box.6Star Tribune. Ex-Con Charged in Osakis, Minn. Woman’s Death in Break-In
A fingerprint on the Target bag matched Jeffery Allen Brooks’s right thumb.7Pioneer Press. Man Charged With Murder in Osakis Woman’s Killing Brooks had worked at the Long Prairie Packing Plant since November 2010, and his commute from Alexandria took him past Diane’s house.8Pioneer Press. Alexandria Alleged Burglar Charged in Slaying Surveillance video from a nearby resort showed a man fitting his description on the day of the killing, and a witness had seen a vehicle matching his car at the Fortenberry home. When questioned, Brooks repeatedly changed his story about where he had been on May 20.2CBS News Minnesota. Man Charged With Murder in Osakis Woman’s Death
A BCA agent and a Todd County deputy arrested him without incident outside his Alexandria home on Friday, May 27, 2011, a week after the murder.9West Central Tribune. Arrest Made in Osakis Homicide
The Guilty Plea and 35-Year Sentence
Brooks was charged with second-degree murder in Todd County District Court on May 31, 2011.7Pioneer Press. Man Charged With Murder in Osakis Woman’s Killing On November 18, 2011, he pleaded guilty. The plea agreement called for a prison sentence between 346 and 480 months, contingent on confirmation that his criminal history score was five.10vLex. State v. Brooks, A12-1589 At the hearing he told the court, “I didn’t mean to kill her.”11Echo Press. A Closer Look Into Sentencing of a Murderer
On June 12, 2012, Judge Jay Carlson sentenced Brooks to 420 months, or 35 years. Under Minnesota’s structure, two-thirds of the term (280 months, or roughly 23 years) must be served in prison, with the remaining 130 months available on supervised release if he maintains good behavior; any infraction requires him to serve the full sentence. He received credit for 381 days already spent in the Todd County jail and was ordered to pay restitution to the family and submit a DNA sample.11Echo Press. A Closer Look Into Sentencing of a Murderer
The Failed Plea Withdrawal and Appeal
Months after pleading guilty, Brooks moved to withdraw the plea, saying he had been pressured into it and inadequately represented by his court-appointed attorneys. Judge Carlson denied the motion on April 20, 2012 in a 15-page memorandum.12Echo Press. Brooks Sentenced to 35 Years in Osakis Murder
Brooks then appealed, arguing his statements at the plea hearing that he hadn’t meant to kill Diane made the plea inaccurate and a “manifest injustice.” On May 13, 2013, the Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction in an unpublished opinion, noting Brooks had acknowledged at the plea hearing that there was a “substantial likelihood that a jury would convict” him of intentional murder based on the evidence, including that he had struck Diane multiple times.10vLex. State v. Brooks, A12-1589
Who Diane Fortenberry Was
Diane Kay Mielke was born in Alexandria, Minnesota on July 8, 1959, grew up in the Osakis area, and graduated from Osakis High School in 1977 before earning a sales and marketing degree from Alexandria Technical College.13Echo Press. Osakis Murder Suspect Awaits Sentencing She moved to Mississippi in 1989, married Mike Fortenberry on July 21, 1991 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and had two sons, Colter and Grayson.14Roy Hetland Funeral Home. Diane Fortenberry Obituary The family moved back to Osakis in 2007, and Diane took a dispatcher job at Hensley Trucking. Friends remembered her love of hunting, fishing, and garage sales.15Echo Press. Remembering Diane The family later spread her ashes in Yellowstone National Park, where she had once worked as a cook at the Old Faithful Lodge, on what would have been the couple’s 20th wedding anniversary.
Her Husband’s Call for Tougher Sentencing
At the sentencing hearing, Mike Fortenberry told the court that Brooks “took away the most important person in my life,” saying, “I lost my best friend. We had plans and goals for our retirement years.”16Park Rapids Enterprise. A Closer Look Into Sentencing of an Osakis Murderer Judge Carlson said the crime made “everyone in the community a victim” and that residents “no longer feel safe and secure in their home.”
Afterward, Mike Fortenberry publicly called for harsher punishments for career criminals, pointing to Brooks’s record. He told CBS News Minnesota that Brooks “did a crime five years ago and had 10 counts of burglary. And the judge had every opportunity to lock him away then.”17CBS News Minnesota. Osakis Murderer Sentenced; Widower Calls for Punishment Reform He said he hoped courts would deal more strictly with repeat offenders so other families would not go through the same loss.