ST PAUL, Minn — Two years after a Bloomington hockey coach was killed in a fight over social distancing rules at a downtown St. Paul bar, a man has pleaded guilty to his death.
Ryan Whisler, 45, of St. Paul, pleaded guilty to felony first-degree manslaughter while committing fifth-degree assault.
According to court documents, St. Paul police responded to Herbie's On The Park just after 11:00 p.m. Saturday, April 17, 2021, following reports of an assault.
When officers arrived they found the victim, 48-year-old Michael Ryan of Bloomington, at the bottom of a flight of nine concrete stairs, laying in a pool of fresh blood. Ryan was rushed to Regions Hospital, where doctors determined that he had suffered a brain injury he couldn't recover from. Ryan was placed on life support to give his family time to say their goodbyes.
Investigators at the scene said they were able to determine from speaking to witnesses at the bar that the incident started when Whisler punched through some cellophane that was wrapped around a urinal in the bathroom to encourage social distancing. Whisler reportedly took a video of himself while using this urinal.
Ryan was said to be "agitated" with Whisler for this behavior, but witnesses said he didn't confront the other man at the time.
As the men were leaving the bar later Ryan allegedly called Whisler out on his behavior in the bathroom, and according to the complaint, Whisler took a lot of verbal abuse from Ryan. The verbal confrontation calmed down when the two men got outside, witnesses said.
According to the criminal complaint, surveillance video caught Whisler punching Ryan's head with "a large, sweeping motion." When played frame by frame, the video apparently shows Whisler pushing Ryan toward the stairs. Ryan flew backward and landed at the bottom of the stairs, hitting his head on the concrete.
Whisler fled the scene in a blue hatchback, and police were able to identify him from the credit card he used to pay his tab at the bar.
One day later, on April 18, Whisler turned himself in to St. Paul Police.
Ryan was taken off of life support on April 18 and died shortly after. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide and the cause of death as a traumatic brain injury due to a fall from a physical assault.
Ryan was the head coach of the Bloomington Jefferson girl's hockey team.
As part of Whicler's plea deal, the cap for his prison sentence is just over 7 years (86 months), according to court documents.
