Man arrested after 63-year-old Lakeville woman's death ruled a homicide

A 69-year-old man has been arrested after a Lakeville, Minnesota, woman's death was ruled a homicide, the Wabasha County Sheriff's Office said Friday. 

The 63-year-old woman, identified by the sheriff's office as Barbara Ann McBride-Law, was found dead on Aug. 30, 2025, in a camper at Mac's Park Place in Mazeppa, Minnesota. Officials said a medical examiner later ruled the cause of her death was homicidal violence and the manner of death was homicide.

According to the sheriff's office, detectives, deputies and the Wabasha County Attorney's Office spent hundreds of hours on an investigation that led to the Madison, Minnesota, man's arrest. The probe "spanned into other states," officials said. 

The man is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, the sheriff's office said.

Court documents show the man has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree manslaughter.

The man had been staying with the victim in her camper when she died, charges say. He told police he was good friends with McBride-Law in high school.

The man claims he blacked out around 10 p.m. the night McBride-Law died and woke up driving on Interstate 90 near Rochester around 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 31, 2025.