After she “repeatedly rebuffed” his sexual attempts, a 38-year-old Minnesota man shot and killed a female coworker in the company parking lot. He will most certainly spend the rest of his life behind bars.
According to court documents obtained by Law&Crime, a jury in Stearns County, Minnesota, convicted Michael J. Carpenter guilty of first- and second-degree murder in the 2022 killing of Nicole Hammond.
A probable cause affidavit states that on October 24, 2022, at approximately 6:59 a.m., St. Cloud Police Department officers responded to a complaint of gunfire outside a textile mill located in the 400 block of Lincoln Ave NE.
First responders reported that as soon as they arrived on the site, they saw a female victim who worked for the company “laying in the parking lot with a puddle of blood around her head.” There were attempts but failures at saving lives. Medical personnel declared the victim—later identified as Hammond—dead at the site.
Police discovered a spent shell casing and keys beside to the body at the scene, and they also saw that Hammond’s driver’s side door was unlocked.
Witnesses stated police they watched Carpenter get out of his car and head toward the south end of the lot as they were approaching the company parking lot.
When the witnesses emerged from their vehicle, they reported hearing a gunshot from that direction and seeing Carpenter dash to his vehicle before taking off.
“Numerous text messages” between Hammond and Carpenter from the evening before the shooting were found, according to the police affidavit, “indicating [Hammond] did not want to be touched by the defendant [Carpenter], nor did she want to be manipulated by him.” The messages were found during a forensic search of Hammond’s cellphone.
“She also informed him to not make things uncomfortable at work,” police stated. “Officers also found a text from [Hammond] to another person who stated that the defendant was mad at her. In speaking with various co-workers, they indicated that the defendant had made numerous advances toward [Hammond] but his advances had been repeatedly rebuffed over the course of the past month. Co-workers also described the defendant as having a bad temper.”
It was discovered that one of the victim’s coworkers was speaking with Carpenter on the phone while the police were questioning him. Carpenter acknowledged that he was aware that Hammond had been shot and stated that he was “not doing okay.” Carpenter claimed to be at his sister’s residence when he was apprehended by police.
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When his automobile was searched, a 9 mm handgun and magazines that matched the kind and brand of shot casings discovered close to Hammond’s body were discovered.
Carpenter denied shooting Hammond during a police interview. He claimed to have “heard a gunshot” as he approached her car and to have “seen a person in a hat tending to [Hammond].” Without offering assistance or dialing911, Carpenter claimed he “saw a lot of blood” and was “too traumatized, so he turned around and left.”
“The defendant also admitted to officers that he did not seep well the night before, as, he kept waking up due to the text argument that he had with [Hammond],” according to the affidavit. “The defendant stated that he was upset about that text conversation.”
