MINNEAPOLIS — A 25-year-old Minnesota woman has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison after admitting to her role in the attempted murder of another woman last year.
Colleen Larson pleaded guilty last month to aiding and abetting first-degree attempted murder in the case.
In a passionate plea to the judge, Larson's defense attorney Dan Adkins argued that her boyfriend Tim Amacher -- who first met Larson when she was his 12-year-old taekwondo student -- manipulated the unsophisticated, naïve 25-year-old to do his bidding.
"The manipulation, your honor, is so obvious. So clear. She was utterly overborne in this instance by that man," Adkins said. "Tim Amacher is evil."
Larson admitted she tried to kill Minneapolis police crime scene investigator Nicole Ford, formerly Nicole Lenway. Ford is Amacher's ex and mother of his child.
Surveillance video from April 2022 shows Larson running up on Ford outside a supervised parenting center on University Ave. in Minneapolis, drawing a gun and firing several times at point blank range.
During the shooting, Amacher was inside the supervised parenting center with the child. It gave him a much-needed alibi, as he would be the prime suspect after filing several false police reports accusing Ford of child abuse. Details of Amacher's manipulation came out during his trial last fall.
During her plea hearing in February, Larson told the court she shot Ford so Amacher could raise his son alone. She also admitted there is no lawful or justifiable reason for her actions that night.
Although Larson's family now knows they were duped by the taekwondo master, his girlfriend and former student is still under Amacher's spell, Adkins admits.
"She still believes now, all the lies that Amacher told her," Adkins said during Larson's sentencing hearing.
When it was time to give a victim impact statement, Ford highlighted that as well.
"I have been informed that [Larson] is still in contact with Tim’s inner circle. Still communicating her love for him. Even expressing she wants a future with him. Even today, almost a year later, she remains steadfast in her love for Tim," Ford said. "I don’t know what’s worse, a vindictive ex who manipulates someone else to kill someone, or a vulnerable stranger who blindly agrees to take someone’s life without a second thought and zero remorse. Both are incredibly dangerous. Both are equally culpable. And I think their sentencing should reflect that."
Prosecutors asked Judge Shereen Askalani to hold her accountable.
"Sure, she's younger than him. Sure, he's charismatic and manipulative, but he's not a sorcerer," said senior assistant county attorney Patrick Lofton. "She made her own decisions that day. They were very cold, very calculated."
And Larson's demeanor nearly a year later sticks with the judge.
"There has been no remorse displayed by Ms. Larson for almost taking someone's life," Judge Askalani said. "Upon reflection, Ms. Larson stated that she doesn't know what she would do differently."
Judge Askalani gave Larson 16.5 years in prison, just a year and a half less than the man she was willing to kill for received after a jury convicted him.
Larson's father wrote a letter to the judge that said there had to be extreme pressure from Amacher in order to make Larson snap. He says Amacher had manipulated their entire family into believing he was the victim in the child custody battles he was having with Ford.
In a brief statement to the court, Larson said, "I deserve prison time... a simple apology cannot cover what I did."
Amacher was convicted of first-degree attempted murder last fall; he was sentenced in January to 18 years in prison, the maximum sentence without going over Minnesota guidelines.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist: