Red Wing man who admitted killing his young son sentenced – InForum

RED WING – Joan Lex knitted blankets for her niece and nephew that were so big she hoped they would never outgrow them.

“It took me about as long to make as he was alive,” Lex told the court, holding a teal knitted blanket intended for her two-month-old nephew.

Lex was one of five people who gave victim impact statements during the sentencing for Hunter Matthew McCutchen, the Red Wing man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to killing his two-month-old son.

McCutchen was charged with 15 counts, including first- and second-degree murder, manslaughter, assault, domestic violence, intentional punishment of a child, child torture and endangering a child. On July 15, he pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder. In exchange for his guilty plea, the 14 other counts were dropped.

McCutchen was sentenced during an emotional court morning on Friday, September 6. He received the statutory maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.

District Judge Douglas Bayley also ordered that the compensation should be reserved for ongoing counselling and therapy for the family affected by the death of the two-month-old baby.

The child’s mother was the first to give her victim impact statement. She said her five-year-old daughter still has nightmares because of the events she experienced.

“The death of my son still haunts me,” she said.

Joan Lex followed him and realized that her family would never be the same again.

“I would give anything to hold him in my arms one last time, to dance with him in the living room one last time,” said Joan Lex.

Two experts involved in the 2023 investigation described in detail how they became physically ill while watching the videos of McCutchen “torturing” the child.

The victim’s final statement was read by the lead investigator of the investigation, Sergeant Cory Hubert.

“I learned a lot during this investigation that I shouldn’t have done,” said Hubert.

Hubert was assigned to watch the videos of McCutchen and the infant and pay attention to when McCutchen abused him.

Because of the regularity of the abuse, the lines were blurred, Hubert said. By the end of the videos, the acts shown at the beginning seemed so insignificant compared to what McCutchen did to the child at the end.

“Hunter’s actions weigh heavily on my life,” Hubert said. “Hunter is rare and unique. He is a monster… who preys on the defenseless.”

Keuster made a final plea, asking for the maximum statutory sentence for McCutchen. She said this case has affected the entire community, from the first responders who thought they were responding to accidents to every person who has had to watch the videos.

“Tragically, there is nothing this court can say or do to repair the harm caused by Mr. McCutchen,” Keuster said.

Jennifer Anderson, one of McCutchen’s lawyers, called the incident a “terrible, unfathomable tragedy.” The defense simply asked the court to accept the settlement.

McCutchen took responsibility for his actions.

“I know what I am and I know what I have done,” he said in court. “I deserve whatever punishment is imposed on me.”

Before Bayley announced the verdict, he said this was the worst crime. McCutchen had just lost his son and his marriage. Now he faces decades in prison.

“I can’t be the only one sitting here wondering, ‘Why?'” Bayley said. “It seems impossible to make sense of it.”

Bayley said he has seen the impact the videos and the case have had on those who have seen them or heard the graphic testimony before. He said 40 years is a “reasonably long sentence.” He encouraged those affected to seek help from psychiatrists and therapists, noting that it is important to talk about what they have witnessed rather than repressing it.

According to the criminal complaint, the child’s mother called 911 on May 25, 2023, and reported that the baby was not breathing, had pale skin and purple eyelids.

Emergency responders found the child unresponsive and immediately began life-saving measures. The child was eventually taken to Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys. Medical personnel told officials that the child had multiple rib fractures in various stages of healing and a healing collarbone fracture, consistent with non-accidental trauma in a child. Images of the boy’s head showed multiple hemorrhages on the brain and loss of brain function.

McCutchen initially told officers that the child had suddenly become “unresponsive” while in his care.

The mother told authorities and medical personnel that McCutchen had been playing too roughly with her son and that she had recently noticed bruises on the boy’s body.

She later told authorities that McCutchen admitted to hurting the child and presented a video recording showing this apparent admission.

“I can’t believe you did this to my baby. I asked you if you wouldn’t mind taking care of him and you said yes,” the mother said in the video.

“I thought so. I’ve never had anything like that happen to me (with another child),” McCutchen replied.

“I don’t know how that could ever happen,” the mother replied. “I have to watch my baby die.”

The child’s death was confirmed on May 25, 2023 at 1:08 a.m.

After his death, the infant’s organs were donated to save three lives, the mother said in her victim statement.

The child’s heart, liver and kidneys were transplanted to three other people, two of whom she still keeps in touch with. She said his kidney saved the life of a 39-year-old father who now talks about how to spend more time with his 5-year-old daughter. His heart was transplanted to a 1-year-old daughter who spent the first year of her life hooked up to machines that pumped her heart.

Even though her son was only a few weeks old, she called him a “hero.”