Crime & Safety

Victim Identified in Eagan Death Investigation

Jonathan Thomas Lahr, 36, died on Jan. 1 following a fight with his roommate. The roommate, Samuel Walter Petersen, was released from custody yesterday.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office has identified the 36-year-old man who died Jan. 1 following a physical altercation with his roommate.

The victim, Jonathan Thomas Lahr, of Eagan, suffered facial injuries and could not be resuscitated by paramedics and fire personnel at the scene. Police say Lahr fought with 28-year-old Samuel Walter Petersen just prior to Lahr's death.

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Petersen and two other individuals were detained for questioning following the incident, but no charges have yet been filed against any of the three men. Petersen—the only one of the three identified in the investigation—was released from custody yesterday following a judge's order, according to Dakota County Jail authorities.

Both of the unnamed witnesses detained for questioning were heavily intoxicated at the time of the incident, according to an Eagan police report. One of the witnesses had a blood-alcohol level of .195, while the other registered a .205. On Wednesday, police were still waiting on lab results for Petersen's blood-alcohol concentration.

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The medical examiner has not yet determined Lahr's cause of death, but is expected to perform an autopsy on the victim. Eagan police are treating Lahr's death as a homicide.

Washburn-McReavy has issued an obituary for Lahr, who will be buried on Monday.


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