NORTH MANKATO — The mother of a man accused of helping organize a fatal robbery is alleged to have assisted him and others after the May shooting of a North Mankato teen, including helping search for discarded cellphones and attempting to dispose of a firearm component, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.
Christa Marie Wolner, 53, of Mankato, has been charged in Nicollet County District Court with felony counts of: aiding an offender-obstruction of investigation of second-degree murder; aiding an offender-obstruction of investigation of aggravated robbery; aiding an offender to avoid arrest-harbor/conceal — second degree murder and aiding an offender to avoid arrest-harbor/conceal — attempted first-degree aggravated robbery.
Christa Wolner allegedly provided transportation, money, phones and access to her Mankato business following the May 23 killing of Tyson Goodsell, 17. Prosecutors also allege she helped her son, Ryan Wolner, search for discarded cellphones and later attempted to dispose of a firearm component at his direction.
Ryan Wolner is among several people accused in connection with Goodsell’s murder. Goodsell had been lured to North Mankato for what he believed was a $3,000 THC cartridge sale. Investigators allege the transaction was arranged as a robbery and that Abdikhadar Fakhi Mohidin fired six shots at Goodsell.
According to the complaint, Christa Wolner received several calls late May 23 and drove from her cabin near Waterville to Connect Real Estate Group, the Mankato business she owns.
Ryan Wolner and other suspects had gathered at the business after the shooting, investigators allege. Christa Wolner picked up her son around 1:30 a.m. and drove him to an area along Highway 169 where he had thrown two cellphones from a vehicle, according to the complaint.
Police later recovered one of the phones from the ditch.
The complaint alleges Christa Wolner also transferred $205 through a mobile app to an uninvolved person after two other suspects used that person’s phone to call her from a convenience store. The person withdrew $200 and gave it to the suspects, who allegedly used the money for a hotel room.
Investigators recovered exterior surveillance video from Connect Real Estate Group but were unable to retrieve motion-activated interior recordings after 8:56 p.m. May 23, the complaint states.
Christa Wolner initially told an investigator she picked up her son from the business after receiving a motion alert from her home security system and noticing a police vehicle near her residence. She reportedly said she could tell from his behavior that something had happened but “didn’t want to know yet.”
She did not tell the investigator her son had been inside the business when she picked him up, according to the complaint.
GPS and Snapchat data allegedly placed Christa and Ryan Wolner at the homicide scene on May 25. Investigators also recovered a photograph that appeared to have been taken from the passenger seat of her vehicle as they drove past the scene.
Officers later found a plaid bag in the back seat of Christa Wolner’s Cadillac. A witness identified it as the bag that had contained the rifle allegedly used the night of the homicide.
After Ryan Wolner was arrested May 26, investigators monitored jail calls in which he and his mother allegedly discussed moving a “Pokémon” card and giving it to someone named “Devon.” Police believed the term was code for evidence.
Investigators followed Christa Wolner after one of the calls and later recovered a gold-colored firearm switch from a ditch along the route she had driven. The device can convert a semiautomatic firearm to fully automatic, according to the complaint.
The complaint also alleges Christa Wolner allowed her son to use her cellphone to communicate with co-defendants and advised members of the group to obtain attorneys.
You can reach Robb at (507) 344-6382, or rmurray@mankatofreepress.com.