Wind sentenced to more than 21 years in prison

By Julie Bratvold
Bemidji Pioneer

Michael Francis Anthony Wind was sentenced Wednesday in Cass County District Court to 258 months in prison for the Sept. 24 stabbing death of Warren Tibbetts in Cass Lake.

On June 8, a jury found Wind, 54, of Cass Lake, guilty of felony unintentional second-degree murder. He was found not guilty of second-degree intentional murder. A felony animal fights charge was dismissed.

District Judge John Smith presided over the trial and the sentencing.

Under state law, Wind is required to serve at least two-thirds of his sentence before he could become eligible for parole, according to Cass County Attorney Earl Maus.

Maus said several representatives from Tibbetts’ family provided victim’s impact statements at the sentencing hearing.

“It was an emotional time in the courtroom,” he said.

Minnesota’s minimum sentencing guidelines required that Wind be sentenced to a minimum of 240 months in prison. Maus said Wind’s extensive criminal history was a factor in the judge’s decision to lengthen the prison sentence.

According to Minnesota records, Wind has had 11 criminal convictions since 1994. In 1994, he was sentenced to 54 months in prison for second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.

In 1999, he was sentenced to a year in prison for theft. He has also received additional assault convictions, as well as convictions for DWI, obstruction of justice, and aiding and abetting criminal damage to property.

According to the court complaint, Tibbetts’ wife called 911 at 7:15 p.m. Sept. 24 to report Wind was hitting her dog and trying to get his dogs to attack and fight with her dog.

Tibbetts, 64, went outside to ask Wind to stop trying to get the dogs to fight, the complaint states. Wind then went to his house and returned with a knife and stabbed Tibbetts in the chest. Wind then stabbed the couple’s dog.

Tibbetts went into his house and his wife called 911 again to report the stabbing. He died in his home. The dog survived the attack.

Law enforcement officers apprehended Wind near the scene. He was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Park Rapids for treatment of injuries to his hands before he was booked into Cass County Jail later that evening.