Two plead guilty to murders in Minneapolis over the summer
Two men pleaded guilty to two separate murders in Minneapolis last summer, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.
Quanan Machacek, 26, of Minneapolis, entered a guilty plea Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court to first-degree murder and was immediately sentenced to life without parole in the stabbing death of 25-year-old Cody Rasche of Minneapolis, according to court records.
Machacek admitted he was looking for someone to kill, a spokesman for the county attorney's office said.
On September 10, Machacek saw Rasche walking with his girlfriend near the Little Earth community in Minneapolis and began yelling at Rasche, according to the criminal complaint.
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The two argued and then physically fought. During the fight Machacek pulled out a knife, stabbed Rasche several times in the neck and ran away.
Hennepin County Attorney's Office spokesman Chuck Laszewski said in a statement that the case was unusual for its speed and "that he was willing to plead guilty to first-degree murder instead of trying to strike a deal to plead to a slightly lesser murder charge so he could have some hope of being released later in life."
In another case, Joshua Ford, 17, of Minneapolis, pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder in the death of Andrew Billingsley, Jr., 38, of Minneapolis.
The two were on a Metro Transit bus at night on July 24 when Billingsley confronted Ford and Ford's friends about their harassment of Billingsley's son, according to the criminal complaint.
The bus driver told police he saw Ford pull out a gun and order Billingsley to get off the bus. Billingsley got off at the front. Ford ran out the back door. He chased and shot Billingsley several times. Billingsley collapsed and died in the parking lot of a nearby gas station.
Laszewski said Ford agreed there were aggravating circumstances in the incident, allowing the judge to sentence him to more prison time. Ford will be sentenced October 27 to 400 months in prison, instead of the 306 months recommended under Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines.