CASS COUNTY, Minn. - Court documents reveal a Coon Rapids man may use mental illness or deficiency and intoxication as a defense in his murder trial.
Zachary Todd Anderson, 25, faces 19 charges including first-degree murder, kidnapping, criminal sexual conduct, motor vehicle theft and interference with a dead body. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
On the morning of August 20th, authorities in Meeker County were contacted by the parents of 5-year-old Alayna Ertl. They say they awoke to find their daughter missing. Anderson, a family friend, had spent the night at the Ertl home after playing softball and drinking with the girl's father.
A statewide Amber Alert was issued and by that afternoon, authorities had closed in on Anderson's family cabin near Motley. There, authorities found the defendant standing in a nearby swamp with cuts on his wrist from an apparent suicide attempt. Authorities also found a gun, ammunition and a suicide note inside the cabin.
Anderson eventually led investigators to a nearby swamp where they recovered the body of Alayna. An autopsy showed the child died of homicidal violence, with evidence of strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head. It was also apparent that the child had been sexually assaulted.
On Monday, Anderson filed a motion to suppress statements he gave to police and evidence police found while searching him, claiming police violated his 4th Amendment, 6th Amendment, and Miranda rights. Anderson is also asking the judge to dismiss the charges on the grounds that the search violated his 4th amendment rights.
No trial date has been set.
