By Marino Eccher
Pioneer Press
ST. CLOUD, Minn. — Brian Fitch Sr. will spend the rest of his life in prison after a Stearns County jury convicted him of the murder of Mendota Heights police officer Scott Patrick.
The verdict was reached around 9:20 p.m. Monday following nine hours of deliberation. The jury also convicted Fitch of the attempted murder of three other officers and a bevy of lesser charges.
After hearing the verdict, Fitch unleashed a profanity-laden tirade at Dakota County District Court Judge Mary J. Theisen, accusing her of bias throughout the trial. At one point, he trailed off in the middle of sentence and muttered “oh my God.”
The judge, unfazed, ordered him taken from the courtroom.
He’ll be sentenced Wednesday in Dakota County; the first-degree murder conviction means life with no possibility of parole.
Patrick’s friends and family, packed into the courtroom, broke into tears and applause after Fitch was taken away.
Speaking with reporters afterward, Mike Brue, the officer’s half-brother, said Fitch “was condemned to an abyss of his own making” when he killed Patrick.
The verdict is another step forward for the family, Brue said, “but in no way makes this a happy day.” Both Patrick’s family and Fitch’s remain wounded deeply, he said.
Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom and Mendota Heights Police Chief Mike Aschenbrenner both praised the law enforcement officers who worked the case, along with prosecutors Phil Prokopowicz and Rick Dusterhoft.
“We’re grateful today for justice in connection with an unthinkable crime,” Backstrom said.
The verdict capped six days of testimony in the trial, which was held in St. Cloud over concerns Fitch couldn’t get a fair jury in Dakota County because of the publicity and high emotions surrounding Patrick’s death.
The officer, a 19-year veteran of the Mendota Heights force and father of two, was shot to death July 30 in West St. Paul during a traffic stop.
The Pontiac Grand Am he pulled over belonged to Fitch, a known drug dealer with outstanding warrants -- though Patrick had no way of knowing that because it was registered to someone else.
He was felled with three shots from the driver’s side window and died on the spot. Neither squad car video nor eyewitnesses could pin down the driver, but police got on Fitch’s trail quickly.
A sprawling manhunt ensued, ending with officers tracking Fitch down in St. Paul the same day. He was arrested there following the shootout that was the basis for the attempted murder charges.
The gun recovered next to him matched the bullets that killed Patrick, along with a shell casing found in the Grand Am.
Defense attorneys argued that the prosecution’s timeline didn’t add up, eyewitness testimony didn’t point to Fitch and the firearms evidence wasn’t scientifically reliable. Ultimately, jurors sided with prosecutors in deciding the overall picture pointed to Fitch.
The defense asked the judge to let the jury weigh lesser alternatives to the attempted murder charges: three counts of assault and one of discharging a firearm. He was convicted of those as well, though the sentence for the murder effectively renders all other penalties moot.
When the verdicts were read, Fitch shook his head and rubbed his temple. One by one, the stone-faced jurors confirmed their votes.
He launched into his outburst as the judge wrapped up the proceedings, calling her obscenities and railing against her rulings during the trial.
She did not stop addressing the jury, keeping her voice level and calmly ordering him removed from the courtroom.
“Take me out. I don’t care,” he said, adding another profanity as he was escorted out by deputies.
Michelle Patrick, Scott’s widow, had the last word of the night.
Weeping as Brue spoke, she gathered herself long enough to take the podium and deliver a stunning message:
“I just want to say God bless Fitch,” she said. “I hope he can come to the realization of what he has done. He has taken so much from us. He didn’t need to. I just want to bless him and hope that he realizes what he’s done. Amen to him.”
Copyright 2015 the Pioneer Press