After fatally shooting a 62-year-old neighbor, Chad Aanerud kidnapped his pregnant girlfriend and her four children in 2024
Crow Wing County Jail
NEED TO KNOW
- Chad Aanerud, 36, fatally shot 62-year-old Lyle Maske on Oct. 31, 2024
- He then abducted his pregnant girlfriend and her four children, triggering an AMBER Alert
- Aanerud was sentenced on Tuesday, Feb. 17, to life in prison with parole possible after 30 years
A northern Minnesota man who fatally shot his neighbor before abducting his pregnant girlfriend and her four children in 2024 has learned his fate.
Chad Aanerud, 36, was sentenced Tuesday, Feb. 17, to life with the possibility of parole after 30 years, according to CBS Minnesota. He pleaded guilty in December 2025 to first-degree murder, kidnapping, first-degree burglary and two counts of second-degree assault.
According to a Nov. 1, 2024 press release from the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded at approximately 1:50 a.m. to a shooting on Loerch Road in Oak Lawn Township, east of Brainerd. There, deputies found 62-year-old Lyle Maske deceased from an apparent gunshot wound.
Investigators identified Aanerud as the suspect and alleged he took five individuals against their will — a pregnant woman identified by KTSP and FOX 9 as Aanerud's girlfriend, and her four children aged 14, 11, 7 and 3 at the time — before fleeing in a white 2017 Chrysler Pacifica.
An AMBER Alert was issued with the suspect and vehicle information, per the release.
Charging documents allege Aanerud sexually assaulted the woman and set fire to a nearby home before the fatal shooting of Maske, according to FOX 9 and Northern News Now. Deputies later found the residence fully engulfed in flames, and the home was destroyed, the outlets reported.
Crow Wing County Jail
According to court documents cited by the outlets, Aanerud later told police he accidentally shot Maske when the neighbor “stuck his nose” where it didn’t belong.
At approximately 7:15 a.m., law enforcement located the vehicle in Morrison County, the sheriff’s office said in the press release.
Aanerud was taken into custody and the five individuals were found unharmed.
Additional charges, including arson and criminal sexual conduct, were dismissed as part of a plea agreement, according to KSTP and FOX 9.
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