by April Scheinoha
Reporter
One hundred Pennington County residents may be called as part of the jury pool for the upcoming murder trial of Devon James Pulczinski, 24, Thief River Falls.
Pulczinski is accused of murdering Alexandra Jo Ellingson, 23, Thief River Falls, on March 27, 2019. He has been indicted on felony charges of first degree murder, second degree murder and first degree arson.
Ellingson’s body was found after Thief River Falls firefighters extinguished a fire at 307-1/2 Arnold Ave. S. She was found in the kitchen of the upper level apartment, according to the complaint. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause and manner of death as homicide by asphyxiation.
Assistant Minnesota Attorney General John Gross said he believed at least 75, if not 100, prospective jurors would be called. Gross is prosecuting the case with Pennington County Attorney Seamus Duffy. Gross indicated it’s a fairly well-known case and the involved parties have established ties in the community.
“A hundred would be preferable,” responded Pulczinski’s attorney, Anthony Bussa.
Gross and Bussa spoke Monday, March 2 during a pretrial hearing for the case. The courtroom was filled with family members and friends of Pulczinski and Ellingson. The trial is currently set to begin Monday, April 13 and scheduled to continue through Friday, April 24.
During the pretrial hearing, Gross and Bussa briefly outlined how they planned to respond to motions made by one another. Judge Tamara Yon gave Gross a deadline of Monday, March 9 to file his brief. Bussa has a week afterward to file his response. Yon will then take the matter under advisement.
Gross and Bussa disagreed with one another regarding 17 of the 41 motions discussed in court. Those motions will be addressed in their briefs. According to online court documents, one motion pertained to whether some photos could be entered as evidence. Those photos depict another Thief River Falls man’s participation in Mixed Martial Arts competitions. The defense noted that grand jury testimony found Ellingson’s death was caused by a choke hold. Choke holds are used in MMA competitions, and the defense argued that the state had referred to Pulczinski’s past involvement in such competitions during grand jury proceedings.
Both sides also disagree about whether evidence should be introduced regarding Pulczinski’s attempts to leave Thief River Falls that day. The state has argued that he was attempting to evade arrest while the defense has argued that there is no such evidence he was attempting to do so. In its court filing, the defense also noted that Pulczinski didn’t even know that the police were looking for him.
They further disagree about whether evidence should be introduced that Pulczinski allegedly threatened or intimidated witnesses. In its court filing, the defense noted there was no such evidence and the grand jury failed to indict him on such a charge.
Both sides also disagree as to whether Ellingson’s grandmother may testify about what Ellingson said prior to being dropped off at Pulczinski’s apartment that afternoon.
The charges
The charges stemmed from a report of a fire at the duplex at 5:37 p.m. March 27. Flames were shooting out of the upstairs windows when firefighters arrived. The lower level sustained water and smoke damage. The fire gutted the top floor of the duplex.
Law enforcement located Pulczinski, who rented the apartment, about four hours after the fire. A man, who was aware that police wanted to question Pulczinski, had informed police that Pulczinski had asked him for a ride. He said Pulczinski “seemed desperate and was trying to find a ride to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.” The man offered to pick up Pulczinski and later notified police about their location, according to the complaint. A short time later, with their guns drawn, law enforcement stopped the vehicle in the 100 block of Eighth St. E. Without being questioned by police, Pulczinski allegedly said, “They had nothing to do with it. It was all me.”
Ellingson’s grandmother had dropped her off at the apartment earlier that day. She told police that she had dropped Ellingson off at 4:22 p.m. to visit with Pulczinski. She returned about eight minutes later after running an errand. She texted Ellingson and received a text back from the phone. However, she tried to call Ellingson, but her granddaughter didn’t answer. The woman remained outside of the apartment for about an hour, when she saw smoke coming out of the home.
A downstairs tenant allegedly told police that he heard arguing in the upstairs apartment earlier that day. However, he hadn’t heard anything else since that time.
A friend said Pulczinski called him, asking to come over to his home at around 5 p.m. March 27 to talk since Pulczinski was supposed to enter treatment. Pulczinski arrived a short time later and asked if the man and a woman could give him a ride back to his apartment. He recalled that Pulczinski grabbed a lever action rifle that the man was storing at his home on behalf of Pulczinski. Earlier, someone had stolen the rifle and a third man had returned it to Pulczinski.
They drove Pulczinski back to the apartment. He exited the vehicle with the rifle wrapped in a blanket. The man said Pulczinski appeared to be in a hurry. Law enforcement later found an unloaded Ruger .22-caliber lever action rifle wrapped in a blanket. It was in the box of Pulczinski’s pickup truck. In the backseat was a bag containing about 16 swords, several dozen knives, several hatchets and a rifle scope, among other items.
Shortly before the fire, a witness had seen the couple’s vehicle near the home. A nearby surveillance camera corroborated his statement.
The man and woman later dropped Pulczinski off near Biff’s Kitchen. Along the way, Pulczinski allegedly asked to borrow the man’s phone because Pulczinski said he needed to get rid of his own phone. The man recalled that Pulczinski was “acting really strange and different like something bad just happened.”
On that day, the police juvenile investigator also went through text messages from jail-issued cell phones. He found a conversation between Pulczinski and his roommate, James Shaugabay, who was in jail on a drug charge. (Five days before the fire, a search warrant was executed at the apartment, and Shaugabay was one of the people charged.) The conversation started a day before the fire. During the conversation, Pulczinski allegedly texted that he would take care of the charge for Shaugabay. Around 3:12 p.m. March 27, the following day, Pulczinski allegedly texted that he was going to find a way to get Shaugabay out of jail and he would have to hide because law enforcement would be looking for him.