Son kills dad ‘execution style’ while making relative watch, Minnesota cops say
A 31-year-old man is accused of shooting his dad nine times — including an “execution-style” shot at his head — in the family’s rural Minnesota hunting cabin, authorities say.
“He entered with a mission ... he entered to kill him,” a witness told Pine County deputies following the Nov. 15 shooting in Hinckley, according to court records.
Deputies went to the cabin after the victim’s brother called 911 from a neighbor’s home, indicating his 31-year-old nephew had shot his father, the Pine County Sheriff’s Office said in a probable cause statement.
The body of the 64-year-old victim was discovered in the home’s living room, authorities said. He was found “lying face down” with a “large amount of blood pooling on the ground near his head,” according to court records.
The brother told deputies he and another witness were finishing dinner when he received a notification on his phone from a trail camera that someone was approaching the home armed with a gun, the sheriff’s office said.
When he went to retrieve his gun from his bedroom, the brother heard three gunshots once the cabin door opened, according to the complaint. He then saw his nephew, Kirk Edward Hazlett III, holding a gun and his brother having been shot, deputies said.
Hazlett then directed his uncle and the other witness to sit on the couch, according to investigators. They said they feared for their lives, believing Hazlett may shoot them next.
The gunshot victim, the brother told deputies, was still alive at that point because he could be seen “breathing a little bit.” But moments later, Hazlett stood over his dad “and shot him in the head execution style,” according to witness testimony.
Hazlett then allowed the two witnesses to leave, and they called 911 from a neighbor’s home, the complaint states.
Authorities said the father was shot nine times, including once in the head and five times in the chest.
About 30 minutes later, Hazlett called 911 to report an unrelated incident, deputies said. He was arrested at his home in Cambridge, wearing the same clothes he wore in the fatal shooting of his dad, according to the complaint.
A motive for the fatal shooting is unclear, but a relative said the father and son “weren’t getting along and hadn’t for a long time,” court records show. Hazlett’s girlfriend shared similar feelings, indicating Hazlett and his family “don’t see eye to eye.”
Hazlett was charged with second-degree murder and felony kidnapping, court records show.
The victim was identified by authorities as Kirk Edward Hazlett II.
Hinckley is about an 80-mile drive north from Minneapolis.
This story was originally published November 19, 2024 at 10:42 AM with the headline "Son kills dad ‘execution style’ while making relative watch, Minnesota cops say."