Man sentenced to 24 years for sex assault cold cases in Chisago County

An updated DNA sample led to a breakthrough in a pair of Chisago County cold cases in 2023. Now, the person responsible has been ordered to spend more than two decades behind bars for multiple sexual assaults.

Donald Edmond Warner, 46, was sentenced Monday to 24 years in prison in connection to criminal sexual conduct cases stemming from 2010, 2011 and 2017.

In each case, prosecutors say Warner attacked young women who were walking in their communities at night.

RELATED: DNA evidence leads to arrest, charges in 2 Chisago County sexual assault cases

While DNA from those cases didn’t immediately provide law enforcement with a known suspect, local and state authorities worked together to pursue additional leads after the 2017 assault. With the help of a genetic genealogy lab, Warner became the main suspect.

Then, in late 2023, officers surveilled Warner at his North Branch apartment and recovered a cigarette butt that he threw out of his truck window. DNA from that matched evidence from the prior cases.

In addition to his 24-year sentence, Warner will spend the rest of his life on supervised release and has to register as a predatory offender. He’ll also have to serve an extra year behind bars for briefly escaping custody in 2025.
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