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With a plea agreement and no trial being held in the brutal beating of two unsuspecting people last winter,  there may never be any light shed on what happened or why.   

December 7, 2014 a man and his sister opened their door to provide shelter to a woman walking by with an agitated man.  She confided she was worried for her safety.  What happened next changed all their lives forever.  One of the homeowners was so severely beaten he spent a month in Intensive Care and the other suffered a broken jaw and psychological trauma.

Last week, the assailant Robert Paul Chiemelewski, 54, of Lindstrom provided no explanation or apologies seated in court alongside his public defender,  as he was sentenced to 144 months in a state correctional facility.  

He was immediately turned over to the state’s Commissioner of Corrections in a speedy legal resolution through a plea agreement;  which is the way the defendant seemed to want it, his attorney told the Press afterwards.  

Chiemelewski had been evaluated by two court psychologists while held awaiting trial, and the court determined he was capable of understanding what he’d done.   In court a few weeks ago (Press story June 4) he admitted to being the perpetrator and the July 29 sentencing date was set.  
The late 2014 assault of Duane and Karen Noles, in their home in Stonegate Mobile Home Cooperative,  may have resolved itself legally, but certainly not emotionally.   

Judge Todd Schoffelman said during sentencing last week the victims have his “...most sincere condolences and...nothing I can say or do will take away the horror” of what was endured.  

Judge Schoffelman explained restitution now stands at about $13,000,  but advised Chiemelewski this will increase as medical bills come in.  The judge said the priority is to pay restitution from any prison earnings over the next 12 years.

In the reading of the victim impact statements by a third party;  Karen described how she re-lives the attack on her brother and herselfas she tried to intervene,  because the beating happened inside their home. She can’t just move because she lacks financial resources to relocate plus her brother Duane, needs her assistance.   She wrote in her statement,  “My broken jaw healed but I will live with this forever.”

Duane Noles wrote in his victim impact statement that he was told he had suffered over 100 blows.  He doesn’t remember the beating. His face consists of titanium plates and he has no teeth because there’s potential for infection at this time.  He has constant pain and difficulty with his speech,  and when he looks in the mirror,  he wrote, “I don’t see myself anymore.”

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