Mpls. man sentenced to 76 years in triple murder

A Minneapolis man has been sentenced to more than 76 years in prison for the 2008 murders of three women in Mounds View.

The Ramsey County attorney's office says Johnny Lee Ellis Jr., 39, was sentenced Monday in the deaths of Jolyn Hazen Vigen, 75, and her daughters, Angela Lynn Vigen, 40, and Jennifer Gail Vigen, 35.

In May, Ellis pleaded guilty to three counts of intentional second-degree murder in the deaths of the three women on October 23 or 24, 2008, at their Mounds View home.

Investigators say Ellis killed Angela, who was his girlfriend, after an argument.

They say he told a friend that he killed her mother and sister because he couldn't leave any witnesses.

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