A plastic tub containing blood and a bloodstained quilt found in the garage of a Rosemount townhouse complex is the latest piece of evidence released in connection with the stabbing and death of a 20-year-old University of Minnesota student.
Anarae Schunk’s body was found in a ditch in rural Rice County about a week after she was reported missing. Police said she likely died in Rosemount on Sept. 22.
Schunk was last seen with her ex-boyfriend Anthony Lee Nelson, also known as Shavelle Chavez-Nelson, when he allegedly shot and killed Palagor Obang Jobi in the parking lot of a Burnsville restaurant Sept. 22, according to a criminal complaint filed in Dakota County District Court. Nelson’s current girlfriend, 24-year-old Ashley Conrade, was also at the scene.
Conrade lived in the townhouse complex where police found the 2-by-3-foot plastic tub Sept. 24. Hidden in the garage rafters, it contained a “significant amount of suspected blood,” the search warrant affidavit said.
Conrade told police that she, Nelson and Schunk went to the townhouse after the shooting, the complaint said.
Both Nelson and Conrade were arrested Sept. 24 in connection with Jobi’s death. Nelson is charged with first- and second-degree murder, and Conrade is charged with aiding an offender for allegedly harboring Nelson until his arrest, according to the criminal complaint.
Conrade’s defense attorney filed a motion last week seeking to dismiss the charge against Conrade for lack of probable cause. The motion will be heard in court Dec. 23.
Nelson is a suspect in Schunk’s death, though no charges have been filed.
Schunk had communicated with Nelson via text and phone conversations after Jobi’s shooting, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Schunk’s mother, Mariana Schunk, said she first heard of the newly released evidence when she arrived at work Wednesday morning.
She said investigators have talked only once with her family since her daughter’s body was found, and she was surprised they didn’t update her family with new evidence.
“I’m trying to take the approach that there’s going to be a lot of news and bits of information that will be forthcoming that’s going to feel like one blow after another,” Mariana Schunk said, “so I’ll just have to prepare myself for that.”
