GUILTY MN - Darrell Rea convicted in 1983 slaying of Laurie Mesedahl

[MicheleT]

Judge convicts man in 1983 slaying of teen in Minneapolis

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman says 64-year-old Darrell Rea, of St. Louis Park, was found guilty of second-degree murder for the April 1983 death of 17-year-old Laurie Mesedahl. Freeman says Judge Tamara Garcia filed her verdict Wednesday and will follow up with written findings.

According to these articles it was another case solved by DNA. I didn't find a thread for Laurie, if I missed it, please merge.

Judge Convicts Man In 1983 Slaying Of Teen In Minneapolis

Man found guilty of 1983 murder thanks to new DNA technology

 

[PastTense]

"Justice has been a long time coming for those who knew and loved 17-year-old Laurie Mesedahl. The Minneapolis teenager was choked, raped and beaten to death in 1983. Her bludgeoned body was found along railroad tracks in North Minneapolis.

Last month, a Hennepin County Judge found 64-year-old Darrell Rea guilty of her homicide. The St. Louis Park man will be sentenced on Tuesday.

Barbara Briggs will be there. She is the woman who helped crack the case. She is another one of Rea's victims. "He stabbed me with an ice pick in the back of the neck at that point I felt like I needed to play dead,"Briggs said. "I thought he wants to kill me, he's not going to stop." Briggs fought back and managed to escape the stranger's car. She ran to a nearby home for help, her clothing covered with her attacker's blood."
DNA links suspect facing sentencing for a Minneapolis teen's 36-year-old murder to other crimes

 

[LadyL]

he is only facing ten years and with time served, he could be out sooner!

 

[PastTense]

The Chilling Story of Three Women Haunted by the Same Rapist—And How the Law Failed Them: Darrell Rea is about to be sentenced for the murder he committed 36 years ago. But the rape cases that helped bring him to justice will never be charged.
The chilling story of three women haunted by the same rapist—and how the law failed them

 

[PastTense]

"A St. Louis Park, Minnesota man was sentenced Tuesday to 121 months in prison, the maximum sentence, for the rape and murder of a17-year-old girl in Minneapolis in 1983.

Last month, a judge found Darell Rea, 64, guilty of killing Laurie Mesedahl in 1983. The teenager’s body was found by the Soo Line Railroad yard. An autopsy showed she had been raped, strangled and then beaten to death."
Man gets 121 months in prison in 1983 Minneapolis cold case rape, murder