By: Devin Fry
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (Valley News Live) – A Grand Forks man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday for his role in the October 2024 beating death of Anthony Kiehl.
Donald Joseph Bartlette, 45, was sentenced in Grand Forks County District Court after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the death of 49-year-old Kiehl. Bartlette received credit for 499 days already served in jail since his arrest.
Judge Jason McCarthy imposed the sentence along with $775 in court fees. Bartlette must serve his sentence with the North Dakota Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and is eligible for sentence reduction as authorized by state law.
Bartlette was originally charged with felony AA intentional murder, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Co-defendant sentenced earlier
Nicholas Wride-Arnold, 35, the co-defendant in the case, was sentenced in August to 360 days at the Grand Forks County Correctional Center and 12 months probation after pleading guilty to reduced charges.
Wride-Arnold pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence, refusal to halt and physical obstruction of a government function. He received credit for time served from October 28, 2024, through his sentencing and was ordered to pay $525 in court fees.
Case details
Kiehl was found unresponsive in his Cherry Street apartment on Oct. 24, 2024, after a 911 call just after 9 p.m. Officers found Kiehl with multiple injuries to his head and face. He was not breathing, and life-saving measures were attempted before he was taken to Altru Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 9:54 p.m.
Surveillance video from the Grand Forks Housing Authority apartment building showed Bartlette entering Kiehl’s apartment at 6:11 p.m. and leaving at 6:44 p.m. with a bleeding injury to his left hand. Video showed Bartlette returned at 7:06 p.m., and Nicholas Wride-Arnold arrived at 7:21 p.m.
Both men left together at 7:23 p.m., then returned at 7:30 p.m. to look inside the apartment before leaving again. Surveillance video also showed Bartlette and Wride-Arnold using a towel to wipe their hands and faces, as well as Bartlette’s arms and chest. Bartlette left the scene on a bicycle at 8:13 p.m.
Investigation findings
A witness told police they spoke with Bartlette outside the apartment complex at a picnic table. The witness said Bartlette seemed agitated and said he had injured his wrist. Bartlette allegedly told the witness the “skinny guy on the first floor came at him with a knife” so he had to “beat him up,” according to court documents.
A search warrant for Kiehl’s apartment turned up a 5-inch knife with blood on it and two wooden coffee table legs that were broken off the table and had blood on them.
A preliminary autopsy report indicated Kiehl died from blunt force injury to the head, and the manner of death was ruled a homicide. The autopsy also found Kiehl had three superficial knife wounds on his neck, chest, and abdomen.
