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Man, 24, charged with fatally shooting father in northern Minnesota cabin

WCCO Digital Headlines: Afternoon of July 29, 2022
WCCO Digital Headlines: Afternoon of July 29, 2022 01:07

MINNEAPOLIS -- A 24-year-old man is accused of fatally shooting his father in the back of the head last weekend at a cabin in northern Minnesota. 

Ronald Bzdok, of Buffalo, is charged in Aitkin County with one count of second-degree murder in the death of his 62-year-old father, who is also from Buffalo. 

According to a criminal complaint, the father was last heard from on Saturday, a day after he went to his cabin in Fleming Township with his 24-year-old son. The father was reported missing four days later after his other son went to the cabin and found no vehicles and the main door padlocked. 

donald-bzdok.jpg
Aitkin County

Investigators searched around the cabin, located roughly 120 miles north of Buffalo, and saw through a window the father slumped in a chair. After police cut the padlock on the door, they found the man had suffered a single .22 caliber gunshot wound to the back of the head. He had been facing the TV, holding a graham cracker in his hand. 

A note found near the victim showed that the he suspected his sons were stealing from him and that he planned to turn them into the police, the compliant states. The other son told investigators that he and his brother had issues with their father over the years, especially with addiction.

Officers arrested Bzdok on Saturday. He was driving the victim's car and had his .22 caliber handgun, as well as his credit card. The brother told police that his father would never let Bzdok drive his car or take his gun. 

If convicted of the murder charge, Bzdok faces a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison. 

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