A $10 million bail order followed allegations built from video, a roommate’s statement, shell casings and a victim’s missing car.
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Three murder counts filed after the killings of workers at a St. Paul apartment complex rest on several distinct forms of evidence, including security video, physical evidence from the leasing office, statements from the defendant’s roommate and his arrest in a victim’s car, according to court records and police.
Tsegaab Ademassu Binessu, 30, is charged in Ramsey County District Court with three counts of second-degree intentional murder in the July 20 deaths of Nansi G. Fuentes Zambrano, 25; Dena M. Silcox, 56; and Adam J. Wilwerding, 43. Binessu made his first court appearance July 22, was appointed a public defender and was held on $10 million bail. The charges accuse him of intentionally killing each victim but do not amount to findings of guilt. Prosecutors must prove every count beyond a reasonable doubt, and the publicly described evidence has not been tested through a completed criminal trial.
The legal distinction matters because second-degree intentional murder under the charge filed against Binessu does not require prosecutors to establish that a killing was premeditated. It does require proof of intent, however, and the complaint lays out the prosecution’s account of actions immediately before and during the gunfire. Authorities have used stark language when describing the shootings, but the underlying case depends not on labels applied by investigators but on what admissible evidence can establish in court about Binessu’s alleged conduct and mental state at the time of each death.
The most direct evidence described in the complaint is surveillance footage from the Davern Park Apartments leasing office. Investigators say the recording showed Binessu speaking with Wilwerding before lifting his shirt and taking a handgun from his waistband. Wilwerding raised his hands before Binessu allegedly fired multiple times. Prosecutors say Binessu then shot Silcox and moved down a hallway outside the camera’s field of view. The recording captured a woman’s scream and more shots, according to authorities. Fuentes Zambrano was later found in the rear of the office, and investigators believe she had tried to escape through a window.
Physical evidence inside the office provided a second category of proof. St. Paul police reported recovering 21 spent 9 mm casings after officers entered the building in response to multiple 911 calls shortly after 4 p.m. Callers had reported gunfire and screams at the apartment property on the 1500 block of St. Paul Avenue. Officers found Wilwerding and Silcox toward the front of the office and Fuentes Zambrano farther back. The medical examiner confirmed their identities. Forensic examination of the scene, together with the video evidence, allowed investigators to build a sequence of events before a suspect had been returned to St. Paul.
A third part of the prosecution narrative came from a person who said he had been Binessu’s roommate since 2018. According to the complaint, that man contacted police and said Binessu had spoken to him after the shootings. The roommate reported that Binessu said he had argued with apartment management and killed three people. He also provided investigators with background about a parking dispute that Binessu had planned to address that day. As with any witness statement, the roommate’s account remains evidence to be evaluated through the court process rather than an independently established verdict on what occurred.
The parking dispute supplies the immediate context prosecutors place before the shootings. Apartment staff told investigators that Binessu had recently called about canceling a garage contract costing $65 a month. He had sold his vehicle and no longer wanted the parking space, according to the complaint. Management told him the contract could not be canceled because it had recently been renewed. Prosecutors say Binessu then stated he would come to the leasing office to discuss the matter in person, although an employee told him the answer would remain the same. Authorities allege he arrived and the shootings followed.
That chronology is significant, but it does not establish that a single $65 payment explains every aspect of the killings. Investigators also documented statements Binessu made after his arrest about severe frustrations in other parts of his life. He discussed difficulties with the immigration process and efforts to bring his former wife and children from Ethiopia to the United States. He described losing important parts of his life and expressed anger toward what he called the American system. Those remarks are part of the reported investigative record, but prosecutors would still have to establish the relevance and admissibility of any such statements if they sought to use them to prove a contested issue at trial.
Binessu did not give investigators a detailed account of the shootings. Court records say he acknowledged going to the apartment office after being unable to resolve the garage contract but did not explain what happened inside. When questioning focused on the killings, he asked for an attorney. That leaves prosecutors relying heavily on evidence gathered from other sources for the alleged sequence: the office video, the crime scene, the roommate, apartment employees who knew about the earlier call and evidence connected with Binessu’s movements afterward.
Those later movements produced another important piece of the case. Fuentes Zambrano’s boyfriend approached police during the investigation and reported that her 2017 Chrysler 300 was missing. Authorities located Binessu later that night in Virginia, Minnesota, about 200 miles north of St. Paul, driving that vehicle. Police said the car contained Binessu’s passport and Social Security card, an empty handgun magazine, his permit to carry a firearm and what appeared to be newly purchased camping equipment. Authorities have not publicly established that those belongings prove where Binessu intended to go, but the vehicle itself tied his arrest to one of the three victims.
The evidence outlined in a complaint can explain why prosecutors believe charges are justified, but it is not the whole of a criminal case. Defense counsel can challenge testimony, seek exclusion of evidence, dispute interpretations of video, examine forensic work and question whether the state has proved the intent required by the statute. Prosecutors, in turn, may present witnesses and evidence beyond what was disclosed in the initial charging document. A complaint is designed to establish probable cause for charges, a lower standard than the proof beyond a reasonable doubt required for conviction.
Outside court, the case is also the story of three workers whose roles at Davern Park made them familiar to residents. Silcox had worked at the property for nearly a decade and was remembered as a mother of four who loved playing piano and meeting people. Wilwerding, known as A.J., handled maintenance and was described as someone who took pride in helping tenants. Fuentes Zambrano worked as a leasing agent and assisted Spanish-speaking residents with communication. Around 100 people attended a vigil after the killings, bringing candles and flowers to the complex where the three had spent their workdays.
The killings were recorded at the time as St. Paul’s ninth, 10th and 11th homicides of 2026. Police said the homicide investigation continued with forensic and video specialists, and publicly released material did not identify an additional suspect. Binessu’s $10 million bail reflected the seriousness of the charges but was not a determination that the allegations were true. The latest reliable public reporting reviewed for this article does not establish a final verdict or other disposition of the three second-degree murder counts. Until the criminal process reaches such a result, the surveillance footage, witness statements and other evidence remain the foundation of an accusation the state still bears the burden of proving.
Author note: Last updated August 26, 2026.