A Dakota County grand jury indictment has led to an upgraded murder charge against a Burnsville man accused of stabbing his 82-year-old mother to death in his home and then dismembering and ditching her body.

Troy Michael Mitteness, 57, was indicted Thursday on a first-degree premeditated murder charge in the June 2022 slaying of Sandra Viola Mitteness, the Dakota County Attorney’s Office said.

Troy Michael Mitteness (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)

Mitteness was previously charged last year with second-degree intentional murder in the case. He pleaded not guilty to the charge Oct. 30.

Authorities say Mitteness told Burnsville police detectives that he fatally stabbed his mother with a kitchen knife at his home because he had spent all of her money and she was becoming suspicious.

Mitteness said he dismembered her body a couple of days later, placed her remains in large plastic tote bins and drove toward Appleton, Minn., discarding parts of her body in the ditch as he drove “because he did not want to get caught,” according to last year’s criminal complaint. He said he left two of the bins behind a dumpster at an abandoned rest stop on Minnesota 7 toward Willmar. Police found the bins.

If convicted, Mitteness could face life in prison without the possibility of parole, a mandatory term for first-degree premeditated murder. He remains in custody at the Dakota County jail ahead of a next court hearing that has yet be scheduled.

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