by April Scheinoha
Reporter
Early Wednesday morning, murder suspect Eric James Reinbold, 44, Oklee, was arrested about four miles northeast of Oklee. Reinbold was charged last week with murdering his wife, Lissette, outside of their home Friday, July 9. He had been on the run ever since that time.
Reinbold was arrested without incident at an abandoned homestead at 32303 180th St. S.E., Oklee. He was found hiding in a wooded area. Shortly after his arrest at about 12:30 a.m., he was transported to the Pennington County Jail.
Three hours earlier, law enforcement was alerted to movement in front of a trail camera that had been erected in a wooded area near County Road 1, not far from property owned by Reinbold’s parents. Pennington County Sheriff Ray Kuznia said law enforcement had searched that area in the days following Reinbold’s disappearance.
Multiple agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, Red Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, converged on the area. Reinbold was then taken into custody. The U.S. Marshals Service had initially issued a federal warrant for Reinbold’s arrest since he allegedly violated the conditions of his release from federal prison.
Reinbold was formally charged last week in Pennington County District Court with two felony counts of second degree murder, including one count alleging intentional murder. A bail hearing has been set for Friday, Aug. 6 in Pennington County District Court.
According to the complaint, Lissette Reinbold “suffered multiple sharp force injuries to her neck, torso and upper extremities.” The medical examiner provisionally determined that she had died from blood loss as a result of multiple sharp force injuries due to an assault. The manner of death was determined to be homicide.
Authorities were alerted about Lissette Reinbold’s injuries at about 9:15 a.m. Friday, July 9. EMTs were dispatched to the Reinbold home, 10583 340th Ave. S.E. in Oklee.
Upon arriving at the scene, EMTs encountered a boy leaving on a bicycle. He told them that his mom was laying on the ground and he was going to get his stepdad, who was staying at a camper down the road. Upon driving down the driveway, an EMT saw Lissette Reinbold, 34, laying on the ground near a vehicle. Blood was visible with a puncture wound seen on her neck near her jaw. She was barefoot, and her sandals were located a short distance from her body. Nearby, a cell phone was wedged under a tire. Dirt was on Lissette Reinbold’s face, and flies were on her body. EMTs then requested law enforcement.
Another of Lissette Reinbold’s sons was outside of the home. He didn’t know what had happened. Later, he told authorities that he awoke to find his mom’s vehicle outside even though she was supposed to work at 8 a.m. that day in Thief River Falls. He saw his mom’s bloody body on the ground. One of the boys then called their grandfather, who called 911.
Two of their siblings had spent the night at Eric Reinbold’s camper. However, they allegedly said he was gone when they awoke. One sibling recalled Reinbold wasn’t at the camper when he had used the bathroom at 6 or 7 a.m. The Reinbolds’ daughter recalled last seeing her dad around 9 or 10 p.m. a night earlier.
It was unclear when the girl had last seen her mom. However, she recalled her mom was crying at the time after her dad accused her mom of cheating on him. She said her dad was mad.
A search warrant was soon executed for Eric Reinbold’s phone. Messages between the couple indicated tension and attempts to reconcile going back to March. That month, Eric Reinbold had been released from federal prison.
From June 25 to July 7, Reinbold allegedly accused his wife of being unfaithful and demanded sex from her. They also fought over finances.
The day before Lissette Reinbold was found dead, Eric Reinbold allegedly asked whether she was being unfaithful to him. He continued to pressure her for sex and accused her of lying to him “in various ways.” She denied his accusations. During this exchange, Lissette Reinbold allegedly “reminded the defendant that he punched and choked her in 2015. The defendant continued to pressure her about sex, including claiming ownership of a part of her body.” At one point, Lissette Reinbold texted that she was waiting to hear why he had punched and choked her. “Later in the exchange, the defendant wanted her to quit her job, which she refused to do. She wrote that she cried on the drive home and could not go inside the house until she stopped crying, so the kids would not see her.”
Eric Reinbold responded by asking his wife “if she called the police and he told her to not threaten him with probation.” He continued to pressure her for sex.
There were no more text messages between the two of them even though he had gone to the house to take two of the children to the camper after those exchanges.
A friend told law enforcement that Lissette Reinbold had sent her and the friend’s sister a video via Messenger at 6:36 a.m. July 9. The friend sent a message to Lissette Reinbold at 7:26 a.m., but she never opened the message.
Also wanted for
violating the conditions of his release
Eric Reinbold was also being sought for violating the terms of his release from federal prison. He was released from federal prison in March after being granted compassionate release. In his request, he cited COVID-19 concerns as well as family medical issues.
Reinbold served time in federal prison for illegally possessing unregistered pipe bombs. He possessed the pipe bombs in 2017. At that time, authorities also found handwritten notes related to manufacturing pipe bombs, making homemade explosives, how to use pipe bombs, and diagrams of bombs. They also found a notebook in which Reinbold referred to starting a second American Revolution. In several locations, he indicated that the notes were for a Hollywood movie script titled “The Revolt.”
The notebook listed candidates for martyrdom, asking whether anyone in those 12 categories would be willing to start the revolution. It also listed reasons “why cops are garbage” and talked about “going Rambo” on the IRS when it says you owe $10,000. The notebook further noted targets, allies, plays, training and disguises.
Reinbold had also been sentenced in Pennington County District Court for a 2015 incident in which he blocked his wife and children’s exit from their property while he was armed with a handgun. A postal carrier witnessed Eric Reinbold ramming his wife’s vehicle three to four times while she and two children were inside. Lissette Reinbold was later able to leave the property. She and Eric Reinbold have two children together. Lissette Reinbold also has two other children from a prior relationship.
In that case, Eric Reinbold received a stay of adjudication and served 60 days in jail or on electronic home monitoring.