The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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Lawmakers consider bill that would tighten no-contact laws

When investigators visited the mothers of Ashley Sullivan and Shawn Haugen Thursday, both said they were going to work together to change domestic abuse laws.
Julie Rosen, the state senator representing the area where the women live, and Tony Cornish, a state representative who is also the police chief where Sullivan grew up, are trying to give them a head start.
They have drafted a bill proposal that would make major changes to the way suspects are treated by judges after they’re arrested for violating domestic abuse no contact orders. Among other things, it would make bail limits higher and increase the penalties for violations.
Sullivan and her stepfather, Chet Gronewald, were killed by Haugen on Jan. 17. Haugen, who had received no-contact orders from judges in two counties, committed the murders before killing himself. That was just three days after he’d been released from jail, where he was being held after previous arrests involving Sullivan.
Less than a month earlier, on Christmas morning, Haugen had been arrested in Lake Crystal, where Cornish serves as police chief. Haugen had been harassing Sullivan at her grandmother’s house.
“I got sick of the excuse that they’re just like terrorists: If they want to do it, there’s nothing you can do to stop them,” Cornish said. “I don’t want to just throw up my arms and accept that explanation.”

Related Photos

  • Ashley Sullivan and her stepfather, Chet Gronewald, were killed the morning of Jan. 17.

    Sullivan, Ashley

February 12, 2010

Murder victim almost called for help

Investigators release final report on Lewisville double murder-suicide

By Dan Nienaber The Free Press

ST. JAMES — A woman shot and killed by her former boyfriend in a Jan. 17 double murder-suicide considered calling 911 hours before she was attacked.

Ashley Sullivan’s mother, Anna Gronewald, told investigators her daughter woke her up at about 5 a.m. that morning, then told her Shawn Haugen had been attempting to call her or send her text messages since about 3 a.m. What neither woman knew at that time was Haugen was likely already waiting outside their house near Lewisville.

So they decided to wait before making the call. They didn’t want to cause a ruckus in the house so early in the morning.

A few hours later, just before 8 a.m., 59-year-old Chet Gronewald heard a noise downstairs where Sullivan was sleeping with the youngest of her two sons. When he went to investigate, he was likely caught by surprise when he was hit in the head with a deadly blow.

Sullivan was also likely hit before she was shot once with a shotgun by Haugen. Then Haugen fired a final shot at himself.

Those details and others were provided to the families of both Sullivan and Haugen by investigators Thursday, said Watonwan County Sheriff Gary Menssen. They were sharing the final report from their investigation.

“We answered all of their questions that we could,” Menssen said. “Some of the questions are never going to be answered, such as the timeline of when everything happened.”

What investigators do know is Haugen, who already had orders from judges in two counties to stay away from Sullivan, had been drinking with a friend from Lewisville. They went to a bar in Lewisville and a bar in La Salle before going to a house party in Watonwan County. People interviewed from those locations said Haugen never talked about Sullivan that night.

Haugen dropped his friend off at his Lewisville house at about 2:30 a.m. His text messages to Sullivan started at about 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., Menssen said.

The shotgun that was used was taken from an attic at the Frost house where Haugen was staying with his uncle. The gun was old and fell apart when a Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigator picked it up. Its stock had been left in Haugen’s car, which was stuck in Gronewald’s driveway. A pile of cigarette butts near the car suggested Haugen had been waiting outside for awhile.

A key to the Gronewalds’ house also was found in the car. Investigators don’t know if he unlocked the door and returned to the car before entering, or if the door had been left unlocked.

It’s possible Haugen found another way into the house, too, Mennsen said. That’s one of those questions that will remain unanswered.

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