A 30-year-old St. Paul man accused of gunning down three apartment complex employees over a parking contract dispute pleaded not guilty Friday to three counts of second-degree murder. Tsegaab Binessu appeared in court as prosecutors laid out a case built on surveillance footage, dozens of shell casings, and his arrest hours later nearly 200 miles from the scene.
The shooting on July 20 shook the Davern Park Apartments in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood, according to MPR News. Three employees were killed inside the building’s leasing office: Nansi G. Fuentes Zambrano, 25, of Inver Grove Heights; Dena M. Silcox, 56, of St. Paul; and Adam J. Wilwerding, 43, of Oakdale, the outlet reported, citing Ramsey County charges.
A Dispute Over a Parking Contract Turns Deadly
Charges say Binessu had gone to the leasing office to cancel his parking contract after selling his car, but employees told him he couldn’t cancel it. The same outlet's reporting indicates the confrontation escalated inside the office before shots were fired. Surveillance video reviewed by investigators showed Binessu speaking with Wilwerding before pulling out a gun and shooting him multiple times, then shooting Silcox multiple times, according to CBS News Minnesota.
Officers who responded recovered 21 9mm bullet casings inside the office, police told the station. Binessu was arrested later that night in Virginia, Minnesota, still driving Zambrano’s vehicle, per the same account. The Star Tribune reported that arrest happened on Minnesota’s Iron Range, nearly 200 miles from the shooting scene.
Competency Review and a Planned Mental-Health Defense
Binessu remains jailed, with bail previously set at $10 million, MPR News reported. A psychiatric evaluation found him competent to stand trial, but his attorney requested a further psychiatric evaluation Friday and said he plans to enter a mental-health defense, according to the station's report.
The case is scheduled to go to trial in April, with Binessu due back in court for a hearing in January, per the same outlet. An earlier report from CBS News Minnesota had indicated a judge ordered Binessu held until a trial date in mid-August, a discrepancy that has not been independently resolved in available reporting.
Community Left Shaken After the Killings
In the days after the shooting, residents at Davern Park Apartments grappled with the loss of staff they knew personally, with some saying they were considering moving, according to KSTP. Wilwerding’s sister described him in a social media post as a loving husband and son, though that characterization has not been independently verified beyond the post itself.
For now, the case sits in a holding pattern between the competency findings and the defense’s stated intent to pursue a mental-health argument at trial. No additional court dates beyond the January hearing and April trial have been confirmed in available reporting.
