A Chanhassen man has become the third person to plead guilty in a $20 million mortgage fraud scheme that involved 57 properties. Douglas Rex Butler faces up to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of fraud.

A 27-year-old Rochester man pleaded not guilty Friday to two counts of mistreating animals, one for torture and the other for cruelty, in Olmsted County District Court. Jarek Moen is accused of kicking the dog of his girlfriend, who is a Rochester police officer. The dog died. A September trial date was set, although a settlement is being sought.

A St. Paul man pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree assault and second-degree murder in a 2011 case where he stabbed out the eyes of his wife, and then stabbed to death a man he alleged to be her lover. Prosecutors will be seeking a prison sentence of at least 39 years for Pah Ber, 49, when he is sentenced Aug. 31.

Jennifer Nibbe, 35, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Wednesday, admitting that she shot and killed 26-year-old James Nibbe in their house south of Lake Crystal without pre-meditation. The Mankato Free Press has posted video of her tearful confession.

An 82-year-old Burbank Township man pleaded guilty Friday to second-degree murder charges in the shooting death of a beloved St. Michael-Albertville special needs teacher. Delbert Huber was accused of shooting Timothy Larson, 43, at Huber's Kandiyohi County farm last year after a confrontation. Court documents said Huber shot Larson over $50 and some missing farm parts.

A former payroll agent for Land O' Lakes has pleaded guilty in federal court in Minneapolis to embezzling more than $1 million from the company. Cynthia Carol Jacobsen, 58, of Brooklyn Park, pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of mail fraud after she admitted to entering her daughter's name in the company's payroll system and authorizing 489 payments to her.