by April Scheinoha
Reporter
Briefing dates have been set in the court trial of a Thief River Falls man accused of murder.
Jorge Luis Benitez-Estremera, 34, is accused of intentionally killing Steven Opdahl outside of DigiKey on May 9, 2023. Benitez-Estremera faces felony charges of first degree murder – premeditated and second degree murder – intent.
Judge Tamara Yon may rule on the case as soon as this summer. During a court hearing Wednesday, Feb. 26, Yon set the briefing schedule for the guilt/innocence phase of the bifurcated court trial. The state was given a deadline of Friday, March 21 to file its brief. John Gross, assistant Minnesota attorney general, said he would let Yon and Assistant State Public Defender Steve Bergeson know if he needed more time to file his brief.
Yon gave the defense until Friday, April 25 to respond with its brief. If Gross deemed it appropriate, he would have until Friday, May 2 to file a rebuttal.
Both sides also agreed to an extension of the time frame for Yon to make her ruling once both sides have submitted their briefs. She was given a deadline of Friday, May 23 to release her findings in the guilt/innocence portion of the trial.
Gross told Yon that the state has 79 items of evidence, including a security video from DigiKey. Yon will have the opportunity to review those items while contemplating her decision.
After Yon has signed her court order, it is expected that both sides would discuss with her a briefing schedule for the second phase of the trial. The trial has been bifurcated into two phases due to the results of two psychological reports, one privately obtained by the defense and the other privately obtained by the state.
In January, Benitez-Estremera waived his right to a jury trial and instead voiced his desire for a court trial before Yon. At that time, through an interpreter, he also said he desired to have a stipulated evidence trial. As a result, no witnesses will testify. Instead, Yon will review evidence agreed upon by both sides to determine Benitez-Estremera’s guilt or innocence.
Benitez-Estremera’s attorneys, Bergeson and Eric Gudmundson (the latter from the local Public Defender’s Office), plan to rely on a defense of mental illness or deficiency. In addition to Gross, the state is represented by Interim Pennington County Attorney Nathan Haase.
If Yon finds Benitez-Estremera guilty of any of the charges, she will then rule on whether he knew the difference between right and wrong.
According to the criminal complaint, Opdahl, 61, suffered severe trauma to the left portion of his head. Next to his body was a parking pole with a sign. Blood was also visible in various areas near his body, and bloody clothing was found in a nearby garbage can. The Oklee resident was assaulted while on a smoke break outside of DigiKey, his place of employment. Besides allegedly assaulting Opdahl with the parking pole sign, Benitez-Estremera punched him 17 times with most of the punches hitting him on the head. The two men didn’t know each other.
The three-minute attack was captured on surveillance video. The complaint indicated that Opdahl displayed no aggression to Benitez-Estremera. He walked around near Benitez-Estremera’s car and smoked his cigarette, ultimately standing in front of and facing Benitez-Estremera’s car. There were no witnesses. Benitez-Estremera was there to pick up his girlfriend who worked at DigiKey. He was located hours later at a Thief River Falls apartment complex.
According to the complaint, Benitez-Estremera allegedly told his girlfriend that he felt a negative force from Opdahl. In an interview with law enforcement, he said Opdahl was contaminated and needed to be taken out of the system.
Benitez-Estremera’s attorneys had sought to suppress statements that he had made in custody as part of the murder investigation. In August 2024, Yon found that Benitez-Estremera validly waived his Miranda rights.
According to documents filed in court, Benitez-Estremera is a native of Puerto Rico. He lived in Florida and Puerto Rico before moving to Thief River Falls about five years ago. He worked at Arctic Cat until December 2022.