Clearwater County sheriff releases name of man who died at jail

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

June 12, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

The Clearwater County Sheriff's Department Friday announced that Timothy Scott Efteland, 30, of Bagley killed himself early Wednesday morning while being held in the Clearwater County corrections facility.

Efteland died as a result of an apparent "self-inflicted asphyxiation," a sheriff's office news release states.

The sheriff's office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are still investigating the incident, pending the results of an autopsy.

Efteland was being held on three charges stemming from two complaints, according to Clearwater County Attorney Kip Fontaine.

Fontaine said he was charged with two counts of burglary and theft for alleged incidents concerning break-ins at the Senior Center and the Sentencing to Service building, both in Bagley.

And he was charged with felony escape from custody and first degree burglary in an incident where he allegedly ran from a Clearwater County sheriff's deputy while showing him some goods he had stolen.

Beltrami County Attorney Tim Favor Friday said he dismissed five 1994 burglary charges involving Efteland.

Favor said the charges are old because Efteland had been serving time in in the Stillwater prison prior to being transferred to the Clearwater County jail.

A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension declined comment.