St. Cloud Man Charged with First-Degree Murder in Thallium Poisoning Death of Roommate

(KNSI) — A Stearns County grand jury has indicted a man on first-degree murder charges after he allegedly poisoned his roommate earlier this year.

According to court documents, Stuart William Hanmer and Cody Ernst were living together at a halfway house starting May 3rd. Medical records say on May 16th, Ernst went to CentraCare St. Cloud Hospital after he had been vomiting and having “seizure-like activity” along with chest and abdominal pain. He was released that same day but returned May 17th, reporting he had been dealing with numbness, burning, and tingling in his extremities. He left the hospital two days later against the advice of medical staff, but only made it a short distance before he collapsed from severe pain in his hips and legs. Ernst was discharged May 22nd and ended up at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids before being transferred to the University of Minnesota Fairview Hospital one day later. On June 15th, a screening was conducted, turning up a lethal presence of thallium. University of Minnesota police contacted the St. Cloud Police Department about the potential poisoning after a heavy metals screening showed a likely fatal dose of the substance in Ernst’s system.

On July 7th, investigators met with Hanmer, who explained the two would often smoke marijuana and have coffee together in the mornings. He said he was at home but not nearby when Ernst had a seizure and that “he wasn’t aware of what thallium poisoning was” until after hearing he died.

Police executed a search warrant at Hanmer’s home on August 1st. According to the criminal complaint, Hanmer said he was using methamphetamine at the time he lived with Ernst but couldn’t remember if he ever searched the internet for thallium and denied poisoning him. Officers seized two of Hanmer’s cell phones, which turned up a search history from early April about thallium’s toxicity, how much it takes to kill someone with it, how long it takes to poison someone with it, and how to buy it. Searches from mid-May, just before Ernst went to the hospital, asked how to melt thallium, how long it stays in the body, and whether it stays in the system even if someone vomits. Videos were also discovered showing how to create thallium sulfate, with one showing it takes just a few hours to produce a powder form “that’s like, enough crystallized thallium sulfate to kill 15 grown men.”

PayPal transactions turned up several purchases of thallium and screenshots of the orders, which investigators say were delivered to a P.O. box belonging to Hanmer.

Hanmer was initially charged with second-degree murder last month, but a grand jury handed down the first-degree murder indictment Thursday. Following Thursday’s decision, a judge raised Hanmer’s bail to $5 million unconditional or $2.5 million with conditions.

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