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Sentencing Halted as Lyndon Wiggins Seeks Third Trial in Monique Baugh Killing

The defense claims the retrial was fundamentally unfair for cumulative due‑process violations.

Overview

  • Judge Mark Kappelhoff postponed Thursday’s hearing to review a last‑minute motion filed less than an hour before a planned life‑without‑parole sentence.
  • A Hennepin County jury on Nov. 3 convicted Wiggins of aiding and abetting first‑degree premeditated murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and murder while committing kidnapping after a monthlong retrial.
  • The motion argues the court intimidated defense witnesses, declined to revisit historical cell‑site evidence suppression, allowed the victim’s mother to remain after emotional outbursts, and left a recusal request unresolved.
  • Prosecutors said the trial was fair and decried the delay, emphasizing the impact on Monique Baugh’s family nearly six years after her killing.
  • Separately, investigators earlier executed court‑approved searches of defense attorney Sarah Gad’s home and phone in a jailhouse drug investigation involving fentanyl‑soaked paperwork.