Stebe, Rehwinkle face charges in alleged murder conspiracy

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.

April 29, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Omnibus hearings for Steven Charles Rehwinkle and Brian Frank Stebe, both accused of conspiracy to commit murder, were continued Wednesday by Beltrami County District Judge Paul Rasmussen.

Rehwinkle, 23, of Aitkin, Minn., and Stebe, 28, of Bemidji are charged, along with Brandon Castonguay, 20, of Bemidji, with one count of felony conspiracy to commit murder.

The three face charges in a plot to commit murder in retaliation for an assault involving an alleged drug deal and the brother of one of the men, now in prison.

Due to a large volume of evidence Rehwinkle's public defender received prior to his hearing Wednesday, the omnibus hearing was continued to June 2.

"We've received a substantial amount of disclosure this morning and today," said Peter Bulens, Rehwinkle's public defender. "I need to go through this (before we proceed)."

Stebe's hearing, however, lasted more than two hours before being continued to an undetermined date.

Consuming most of the time was a motion filed by Stebe's attorney, Darrell Carter, asking for his client's previous statements to law enforcement officials be inadmissible in his trial because Stebe was allegedly made promises of being released that weren't kept.

Stebe contends that two offers of leniency or release were made to him if he cooperated with law enforcement officials.

The first, he said, was offered by a state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agent who was involved in Stebe's arrest at his home Feb. 24.

Stebe said the officer allegedly told him if he cooperated, he'd "be back in time to finish supper with his children."

The second offer, coming from the Beltrami County Attorney's Office, Stebe said, was communicated to his wife, Desiree Stebe, through a Beltrami County sheriff's investigator.

However, Assistant Beltrami County Attorney Randall Burg said he had never heard of the alleged BCA offer prior to Wednesday's hearing, and he asked why Stebe didn't make any mention of it or the alleged offer from the County Attorney's Office in four separate tape-recorded interviews with Beltrami County sheriff's investigator Steven Kovacic.

Stebe answered that the believed if he had said anything on tape, the deal or deals would have no longer been available.

"I know the rules of snitching; let's say it that way," he said.

After Stebe stepped down as a witness, the hearing was continued to an undetermined time so that Burg could receive disclosure on any further witnesses the defense plans to call to the stand during the hearing.

In an interview after the hearing, Carter, Stebe's lawyer, said he was unhappy with the continuance because he wants his client out of jail.

"We need to get this on to trial so the man can be released," he said.

According to criminal complaints, Rehwinkle, Stebe and Castonguay were allegedly involved in a plot to retaliate against people in the Aitkin area who had attacked Castonguay because an alleged drug deal involving his brother had gone bad. Brandon's brother, Travis, is an inmate at Oak Park Penitentiary.

BCA agents had listed to telephone conversations between Travis Castonguay and the three accused purportedly talking about the plot, and the BCA in turn informed the Beltrami County Sheriff's Office.