MINNEAPOLIS — A south Minneapolis man is charged with second-degree murder after investigators say he both stabbed and bludgeoned his father to death with a hammer.
Prosecutors say 33-year-old Anthony Ryan Jolson killed his father on January 13 inside their home on the 4700 block of Elliot Avenue S. Squads were dispatched to that address around 9 p.m. on a call of unknown trouble.
When officers arrived they saw a man, later identified as Jolson, inside the house but were unable to get him to let them in.
A criminal complaint filed in the case details how police located a witness who identified himself as Jolson's brother. He said their 58-year-old father had been hit in the head with a hammer and was injured on the couch. At that point officers forced entry into the home, found the victim and arrested Jolson after some resistance.
Jolson's brother told detectives that he, his father and brother lived at the home, and reported that in recent days Anthony Jolson had been acting paranoid and calling them "the devil." The brother had gone skating that night, and alleges that when he returned home, Anthony Jolson told him he had "surprise" or "sneak" attacked their father with a hammer and knife. "I did something really bad," and "the devil made me do it," the defendant reportedly told his brother, who was so scared he left the home and waited outside until police arrived.
The victim was declared dead on scene, while investigators gathered evidence including blood samples, a kitchen knife and a hammer found on the living room floor.
If found guilty, Anthony Jolson faces a maximum recommended sentence of up to 40 years in prison.
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