Hearing in murder case rescheduled
Date changed a second time
By Joel Stottrup
An omnibus hearing on the second-degree intentional murder charge against Princeton resident Steve Hollermann has been continued on the Isanti County court calendar for the second time. The hearing, which is to review if Hollermann's constitutional rights were followed in his arrest and charging in April, was to have taken place next Thursday, July 25. But now the hearing is scheduled for Aug. 22 at 9 a.m. in the Isanti County Courthouse. The first omnibus hearing had been scheduled for June 27 but the court directed the rescheduling (known as a continuance) until July 25 because of a previously-planned vacation by Hollermann's defense attorney, Craig Cascarano. Cascarano requested the latest continuance because of being on vacation and out of the country in late July, according to Isanti County Attorney Jeff Edblad. "That's where it's at, unfortunately," Edblad said Monday. Hollermann was originally arraigned April 19 on a charge of unintentional second-degree murder of his wife, Deborah Hollermann, the evening of March 22. But, after more investigation by authorities, Isanti County Attorney Edblad amended the charge in court on May 23 to intentional second-degree murder. The charges came about after investigation into the details of the March 22 collision of the Hollermanns' 1992 Jeep Cherokee with a car abandoned on the shoulder of the north side of Highway 95 about six miles east of Princeton. Steve Hollermann was driving the Cherokee westbound on Highway 95, with his wife Deb as a passenger, at the time of the collision. The vehicle careened off a corner of the abandoned car and then angled across the eastbound lane and ended in the ditch on the south side of Highway 95. Authorities found Deb Hollermann dead at the scene and reported her death as a result of injuries from the collision. But then there was an anonymous phone call to Princeton police to check out the evidence further. Meanwhile, one or more investigators began having doubts that the collision was an accident and that Deb Hollermann's death was due to her head hitting the windshield during the collision, and began more investigating. Authorities concluded that the blood found in the car was not consistent with what would be found with such a collision. During the intensified investigation, authorities also found the collision to be a relatively low-speed one (about 40 miles per hour) and that there had been no attempt by Steve Hollermann to brake the car. Authorities interviewed Hollermann and reported Hollermann admitting hitting the side of his wife's head against the door support post during an argument they had while on their way home from a shopping trip to Cambridge the evening of March 22. Hollermann has been free on $200,000 bail since shortly after his arraignment. Legal action by a Princeton attorney on behalf of Deb Hollermann's relatives has put a freeze on any proceeds of the sale of any Hollermann assets pending the outcome of the court proceedings. That includes money from the sale of the Hollermanns' main residence, a sale which has taken place since the arraignment. The Hollermanns also owned a lot along Green Lake with two cabins. Hollermann was head of the laboratory at Fairview Northland Regional Hospital in Princeton until his resignation not long after the arraignment. Once the omnibus hearing is concluded, a trial date can be set.
Princeton Union-Eagle
P.O. Box 278
Princeton, MN 55371
Telephone: 763-389-1222
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