Redby couple sentenced for murder
In federal court in St. Paul Wednesday, Natalie Renee Delores Ann Smith, 24, of Redby was sentenced in connection to the murder of a 21-year-old man Oct. 1, 2009.
United States District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank sentenced Smith to 121 months in prison on one count of aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
On Tuesday, Kelly James Maxwell, 28, of Redby, was sentenced to 222 months on one count of aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
Maxwell and Smith were indicted on Nov. 10, 2009, and pleaded guilty March 23.
After Wednesday's sentencing, U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones said, "Violence of this nature will not be tolerated anywhere, not within our urban neighborhoods, our rural communities, or our tribal nations. Irrespective of where they live, all of our citizens deserve to be safe."
In their plea agreements, Maxwell and Smith admitted they aided each other in the murder of Curtis Leslie Charles Heinonen, a resident of the Red Lake Indian Reservation. According to an FBI affidavit, Heinonen's unclothed body was found under some logs in the yard of a Redby residence. Officers discovered shoes, pants, and boxer shorts two blocks away in Smith's yard.
This case was investigated by the FBI, Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Red Lake Tribal Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford B. Wardlaw.
Because the Red Lake Indian Reservation is a federal-jurisdiction reservation, some of the crimes that occur there are investigated by the FBI in conjunction with the Red Lake Tribal Police Department. Those cases are prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office.
--Molly Miron
