Two people will be charged on Friday for the death of University of Minnesota student Anarae Schunk.
The two suspects who police believe to be involved with her death, Anthony Lee Nelson and Ashley Conrade, will be charged with second-degree intentional murder, according to Schunk’s family.
Police arrested Conrade, 24, on Wednesday and she is being held in the Dakota County Jail. She will make her first appearance for the new charges in court Friday, Schunk’s family said. Nelson, 32, is currently being held in state prison for charges unrelated to Schunk’s death.
Nelson is also facing first-degree murder charges in the death of Palagor Obang Jobi, 23, who was fatally shot on Sept. 22 — the same night Anarae Schunk was last seen before her body was found in a ditch in rural Rice County about a week later. Nelson’s trial for the Jobi case is scheduled for October.
In September, Conrade told police Anarae went with her and Nelson to Conrade’s townhome in Rosemount, Minn., after Jobi’s shooting. Police found a plastic tub containing a large amount of blood and a bloodstained quilt hidden in the rafters of the townhome’s garage two days later.
Mariana Schunk, Anarae’s mother, said her family is hoping that Nelson and Conrade will plead guilty and receive life sentences without parole.
“I think we’re all … satisfied that charges were pressed and that they both were included,” she said. “We know that it’s a long haul from tomorrow moving forward.”
Dakota County officials will hold a press conference on the charges Friday at 1 p.m. in Hastings, Minn.
To learn more about the Anarae Schunk case, see related coverage here.