Northern Minnesota man gets 48 years in prison for murder of ex-girlfriend

The man pleaded guilty to the murder last month.

Author:
Tommy Wiita
Publish date:
Nov 28, 2022

St. Louis County Jail

The man pleaded guilty to the murder last month.

A Virginia, Minnesota man has been sentenced for the 2021 murder of his ex-girlfriend.

Derek Malevich, 42, was sentenced to 583 months in prison for the murder of 32-year-old Kristen Ann Bicking, after he pleaded guilty in October.

Bicking was in a previous relationship with Malevich but they weren't together at the time of her death. The St. Louis County Attorney's Office said the murder was the 10th of 20 total intimate partner homicides in Minnesota last year.

On May 21, 2021, Bicking was found on a couch in Malevich's living room with multiple stab wounds on her face, neck and back. She was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

A criminal complaint states Malevich called 911 to falsely report that an unknown person was stealing from him so he "bashed their head in," only to later find out it was his ex-girlfriend.

Malevich was previously charged with assaulting Bicking in September 2020, when he also threatened to kill her.

She had expressed her concern to police prior to her death that Malevich would likely retaliate against her if she called law enforcement.

Malevich received the statutory maximum sentence of 480 months for the second-degree murder charge and will serve a 103-month sentence consecutively for a first-degree aggravated witness tampering charge. An indictment of two counts of first-degree murder were dismissed as part of the plea deal.

"Despite her tragic death, Ms. Bicking continues to have a lasting impact on this community. At sentencing today, Ms. Bicking’s family vowed to continue their important efforts to raise awareness of the danger of domestic violence," St. Louis County Attorney Kimberly Maki said in a statement.