Prosecutors first charged Jacob John Audie with second-degree murder before a grand jury added a premeditated first-degree count.
SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jacob John Audie was not initially charged with the crime that ultimately put him in prison for the rest of his life. The Minnesota murder case began with a second-degree charge, expanded months later to include premeditated first-degree murder and ended with a mandatory life-without-parole sentence.
That progression is central to understanding the prosecution over the death of 72-year-old Michael Maurice Schille. Audie, 37 at sentencing, was accused of shooting Schille inside the South St. Paul apartment the two men shared on April 11, 2025. Prosecutors filed an intentional second-degree murder count three days later. By September, a Dakota County grand jury had added first-degree premeditated murder. On Aug. 19, 2026, Judge Kathryn Iverson found Audie guilty of both offenses in a stipulated facts trial. Iverson sentenced him Aug. 25 to life without the possibility of parole.
The first charge was grounded in an unusually direct beginning to the investigation. Authorities said Audie called 911 at about 8:48 p.m. on the night Schille died and told dispatchers that he had shot his roommate. Officers found Audie waiting in the apartment building’s parking lot and took him into custody after he complied with their instructions. Inside the residence, police found Schille on a couch in a back bedroom. Medics pronounced him dead. Investigators said an AR-style rifle was in the living room, with additional firearm-related evidence found in the kitchen and bedroom.
Audie also gave investigators an account of his actions. He said the weapon belonged to Schille and acknowledged shooting him, according to the criminal case. He described removing the rifle’s magazine and taking a round from the chamber afterward. Police reported finding rifle magazines on tables in different rooms, an empty casing near Schille and a live round near the weapon. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office later concluded that Schille died from a gunshot wound to the head and ruled the manner of death a homicide.
Those facts supported prosecutors’ original allegation of an intentional killing, but first-degree premeditated murder required the state to pursue a more serious theory. The initial county attorney announcement did not claim that all questions about why the shooting occurred had been resolved. Schille’s children likewise said publicly after his death that they were trying to understand what had happened. At the time of the first charge, the case publicly centered on Audie’s call, his admission, the physical scene and the fact that the men were roommates.
The relationship itself added context. Audie told investigators that he had lived with Schille for about one or two years and helped care for him and clean the apartment. Schille was a Navy veteran, according to his children, and family members said he had experienced health problems. That information later became relevant when court records described Audie’s statements about his reason for the shooting. But neither poor health nor a caregiver relationship alone established the legal elements of premeditated murder. Prosecutors’ case for that charge depended on evidence indicating advance thought or planning.
By the time the grand jury acted in September 2025, the prosecution formally alleged exactly that. The panel indicted Audie on premeditated first-degree murder and second-degree intentional murder. The Dakota County Attorney’s Office announced the new indictment on Sept. 11, about five months after the killing. Its public statement again recounted Audie’s 911 call, the scene inside the apartment, the victim’s rifle and Audie’s statements to investigators. It also emphasized the consequence attached to the first-degree charge: conviction would mean life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Subsequent reporting based on court material offered more detail about what prosecutors could cite in support of premeditation. A four-page handwritten letter was reportedly recovered from the apartment and bore the title “Michael’s forgiveness.” Audie was reported to have said that he wrote it. The records also described a discussion between Audie and Schille days before the shooting concerning the possibility of ending Schille’s life. Schille reportedly indicated that he was not ready. Audie was later reported to have described acting with the intention of ending Schille’s life and suffering.
Those facts altered the public understanding of the case from its early stage, when even Schille’s family said a motive had not been found. They suggested that the shooting was preceded by discussion rather than arising solely from an unexplained instant inside the apartment. Ultimately, however, the question of whether the evidence proved premeditation was not resolved by news reports or the indictment itself. An indictment is an accusation. The finding of guilt came later, when Iverson considered the stipulated record and returned guilty verdicts on both homicide counts.
A stipulated facts trial also gave the case an ending different from the courtroom sequence many murder prosecutions follow. There was no reported jury verdict after days or weeks of witness testimony in open court. Instead, Iverson determined guilt from the evidentiary record presented under the agreed procedure. On Aug. 19, 2026, the court found Audie guilty of premeditated first-degree murder and intentional second-degree murder. That determination converted the grand jury’s most serious accusation into a criminal conviction and triggered the sentencing consequence prosecutors had identified when they announced the indictment.
Six days later, Iverson imposed life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The Dakota County Attorney’s Office said the sentence was for Schille’s death and announced that Audie remained at the Dakota County Jail awaiting transfer to the Minnesota Department of Corrections. The life term does not provide for parole eligibility, distinguishing it from sentences that allow an incarcerated person to seek release after a specified period.
Behind the legal progression was Schille’s family. His children said he was a Navy veteran who had received an honorable discharge and spoke after his death about the memories they thought they would still have time to make. An obituary said he enjoyed camping, water activities and his Harley and noted that he had two daughters and two granddaughters. The criminal case could determine Audie’s legal responsibility for Schille’s killing; it could not restore the time his family said they expected to have with him.
The completed prosecution can therefore be traced through four key stages: the April 2025 shooting and second-degree charge, the September 2025 first-degree indictment, the Aug. 19, 2026, convictions and the Aug. 25 life sentence. The county attorney’s office identified Audie’s transfer to state corrections as the next step after sentencing. No parole date applies to the punishment imposed for the first-degree murder conviction.
Author note: Last updated Sept. 30, 2026.