I sat in the basement courtroom at the Kandiyohi County Courthouse Tuesday as Delbert Huber and his son Tim were arraigned on murder charges. The pair are accused of killing an Albertville man, Tim Larson, on Larson's father's farm near Belgrade Saturday. Tim Huber looks like actor Larry David but seemed very slow, confused and nervous, asking Judge Kathryn Smith at least 10 times to repeat things like his rights, jury proceedings, and the charges against him. His father Delbert was more crotchety, and seemed tired and resigned to what lay ahead.
Tim Larson, a 43-year-old husand and father to two school-aged children, was a special education teacher at the St. Michael Albertville School District and planned to spend the weekend hunting on his father's property. He asked the Hubers, who had been hired by Larson's father to take care of the livestock on the farm, to stay away until Monday, and to move their truck and tractor off the property, which apparently angered the Hubers. Somewhere along the line they got it in their heads that Tim Larson had somehow stolen $50 from Tim Huber's wallet, and was somehow "messing" with their farm equiptment. On Saturday morning, against Larson's request, the Hubers drove to the farm, Delbert bringing a 30 caliber rifle, and Tim fed the animals while Delbert waited for Larson. Larson came and said they weren't supposed to be there. He argued with Delbert, who walked to his car, grabbed the rifle, chambered a round, and fired into Larson's chest, killing him on the spot. Delbert told investigators he was only planning on scaring Larson and get him to admit to taking the money from Tim Huber. They left Larson's body lying on the ground for 12 hours before calling the sheriff's department. What a waste. Prosecutor Jennifer Fischer says there has been a history of bad blood between the Larsons and the Hubers.
Oh, by the way, I came across a story of the world's tallest corn in Washington IA, grown to a height of 31 feet back in the 1940s. A listener responded, saying
"The world's tallest cornstalk was grown by J.Karl of Allegany NY in the 2000's...it was 34 feet tall! They have the actual specimen of it in Allegany. " He has repeatedly sent emails insisting I correct the IA corn story. Consider it done.
