Fridley Man, 58, Arrested for Murder After Giving Woman Prescription Drugs

A 58-year-old Fridley man was arrested and placed in Anoka County Jail Sunday on suspicion of third-degree murder after he allegedly gave an opium-based prescription drug to a Coon Rapids acquaintance, ABC Newspapers is reporting.

A 33-year-old woman was found dead Sunday morning in her Coon Rapids apartment by the Fridley man who told police he had met her at a bar Saturday evening and only knew her first name, according to ABC Newspapers. The man said they went back to her apartment because she wasn’t feeling well.

The Fridley man can only be held until noon Tuesday without being charged, and Cmdr. Paul Sommer of the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office told the Pioneer Press that he would likely be released while the investigation into the woman’s death continues.

“Murder in the third degree by distributing controlled substances is a really hard case to prove,” Sommer told the Pioneer Press.