Summary

In May 2010, a woman was attacked and sexually assaulted by an unknown man while walking on 315 Street in Stacy, Minnesota. The woman was able to escape her attacker and go to a nearby residence where a family member reported the incident to police. Seven years later in July 2017, police were dispatched to a residence in the area of the intersection of Broadway and Third Avenue North in the city of Lindstrom, in Chisago County, Minnesota. A woman reported that she had been attacked and assaulted by an unknown man while walking home from an event in the early morning hours. At the time of each attack, forensic evidence belonging to the assailant was collected and a DNA profile was obtained from the evidence. STR testing was performed and government databases were searched, but there was no match to a known individual in either case.

In 2023, working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Chisago County Sheriff’s Office submitted forensic evidence to Othram for analysis. Othram scientists used Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive DNA profile for the unknown male suspect. Othram's in-house forensic genetic genealogy team used the profile in a genealogical search to produce investigative leads. These investigative leads were returned to law enforcement, who continued the search for the suspect's identity.

With these new leads in-hand, investigators were able to identify a person of interest, Donald Edmond Warner, born March 03, 1979. Warner lived in the city of Stacy in 2010 on 314 Street, near where the first attack occurred. Detectives continuing their investigation began surveillance of Warner and observed him exiting his truck and discarding a cigarette butt in a dumpster. After Warner left the area, law enforcement entered the dumpster and retrieved the discarded cigarette butt, which was provided to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for DNA testing. The additional DNA testing confirmed that the DNA profile from the cigarette butt matched the DNA profile previously obtained from the forensic evidence collected at each of the attacks that occurred in 2010 and 2017.

Donald Edmond Warner was arrested and booked into the Chisago Jail on felony charges of Criminal Sexual Assault on December 15, 2023. In April 2025, he escaped from the Chisago County Jail while working his custodial duties. Law enforcement found him nearly two hours later in a trash can in a park. In May 2025, he pleaded guilty to each of his charges and asked to be sentenced by a judge.

On October 6, 2025, Warner was sentenced to a 288-month sentence on the first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge from 2010 which constitutes a double upward departure from the State's Sentencing Guidelines. In addition, the court sentenced Warner to 90 months and 180 months on the two attempted first degree criminal sexual conduct matters, respectively, which will run concurrently with the 288-month prison term. The sentence also includes lifetime conditional release/supervision and predatory offender registration. An appeal made by Warner was dismissed in June of 2026.

This case is a reminder that every piece of preserved evidence has the potential to unlock long-awaited answers. If you would like to support efforts to solve more cases like this, consider contributing your DNA data to the DNASolves database which aids law enforcement in identifying suspects and giving families the answers they deserve.

The identification of Donald Warner represents the 4th case in the State of Minnesota where officials have publicly identified an individual using technology developed by Othram. Visit Othram.com to learn more.