FARGO, N.D. - The conviction of a man accused of fatally shooting a friend and business partner was upheld in an opinion released today by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Chad Swedberg, 34, of rural Ogema, Minn., was shot twice with a high-powered on April 13, 2007, as he collected maple-syrup sap near his home.
A friend who was a pallbearer in the funeral and a partner in a construction business with Swedberg - Kenneth Eugene Andersen, 37, of rural Waubun, Minn. - was convicted of first-degree murder in 2008 by a jury in Becker County.
Andersen has insisted he didn't shoot Swedberg and appealed his conviction on numerous grounds.
In a majority opinion by Justice G. Barry Anderson, the Supreme Court rejected an argument that a search warrant used to find a rifle believed to be the murder weapon was invalid due to errors in the application for the warrant.
ADVERTISEMENT
Justices also dismissed the claim that Andersen's rights were violated when jailhouse phone calls with his defense attorney were recorded but not reviewed by investigators.
Andersen had also asked the court to find that there was not enough evidence to convict him.
