Minnesota Court of Appeals Overturns Zimmerman Man’s Attempted Murder Conviction, Orders New Trial

(KNSI) – The Minnesota Court of Appeals has reversed the second degree murder conviction of a Zimmerman man accused of trying to steal guns from a pawn shop and attempting to kill bystanders who saw him run from the scene.

In 2021, court records say Manuel Richard Buck allegedly tried breaking into the Zimmerman Trading Post. Before he got into the store, he triggered the alarms, so he took off running through a nearby yard. Two witnesses chased Buck, who turned around and began swinging a machete. Both witnesses suffered multiple cuts from the attack but were able to fight off Buck and detain him until law enforcement arrived.

Investigators say Buck planned to rob the store and use the guns to commit a mass shooting.

Officials say the FBI and Sherburne County investigators found a cache of ammunition and bomb-making materials Buck stashed in a Sherburne County park. Investigators also learned Buck researched past mass shootings and discussed how he would carry out his own.

A jury convicted him in 2023, and he was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

Buck appealed, saying the lower court wrongly admitted a video into evidence he said was recorded three years before the incident in which he described a plan to shoot a gun-store owner and others. He said they also admitted evidence that he had hidden ammunition near the store he tried to rob and allowed statements he made to police about medication he was taking for homicidal ideations. He also argues that the district court abused its discretion by imposing multiple aggravated sentences.

The high court argued they were not persuaded by prosecutors saying Buck’s was a “rare” case involving severe aggravating circumstances that justifies a greater-than-double departure.

The Court of Appeals filed an opinion Monday saying, “Since the court erred in admitting the video recording and there is a reasonable likelihood that this evidence significantly impacted the verdict, we reverse Buck’s conviction for attempted second-degree murder and remand for a new trial on that charge.” The court also reversed his ten year sentence for first-degree burglary, sending it back to the lower court for resentencing. All other convictions were upheld.

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