A man who fatally strangled a woman in the basement of his St. Cloud home told police that God told him to carry out the killing and would use him to bring her back to life.
Daniel Walter Kenning, 38, was charged Tuesday in Stearns County District Court with one count of second-degree intentional murder in connection with the death of a woman from Blaine on Sept. 29.
According to the complaint, Kenning and the 45-year-old woman had previously met at a wedding and had been communicating on Facebook Messenger. They had been together over the weekend of Sept. 22. Kenning said he felt he was supposed to have killed her, but he "could not do it at that time."
On Sept. 28, Kenning picked up the woman, identified Tuesday by St. Cloud police as Jennifer Lee Moy, and drove her to his house on the 1100 block of 10th Avenue N. in St. Cloud. After midnight, he took her to his basement, handcuffed her arms to a table and tied her legs. He then strangled her to death with one hand, the complaint said.
Shortly after 8 a.m. Kenning drove to the St. Cloud police station and confessed.
A provisional autopsy determined the woman's death was a homicide from probable strangulation.
If convicted, Kenning could face up to 40 years in prison.
Judge Mary Mahler set bail at $2 million, or $1 million with conditions. Kenning remained in the Stearns County Jail Tuesday afternoon. A court date had not been set.
St. Cloud police continue to investigate, with assistance from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Stearns County Sheriff's Office.
Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768
