A Pennington County Jury in Rapid City jury yesterday afternoon found a New York City man guilty on all counts in the August 2020 killing of 3 people.
37-year old Arnson Absolu faces 3 mandatory life terms when he’s sentenced February 24th for the deaths of 29-year old Ashley Nagy of Greeley, CO, and two Rapid City men, 26-year old Charles Red Willow and 22-year old Dakota Zaiser.
The trial lasted nearly 3 weeks with 8 days of testimony. The jury deliberated about 4-½ hours on Wednesday, then resumed its work yesterday morning and deliberated another 6 hours or so before announcing its verdicts.
Pauletta Red Willow, the aunt of Charles Red Willow, was among the dozens of family members of the victims in the courtroom for the verdict.
She told reporters “justice is served and our families can rest and put our loved ones to final rest in peace.”
Charles Red Willow and Ashley Nagy were killed in a car at a Rapid City park. The prosecution said he was killed over a drug dispute while she was killed to protect Absolu’s identity.
Zaiser disappeared the same night with his body found about a month later in a shallow grave at Sheridan Lake. The state argued he was fatally stabbed in the back at an apartment because he was also a witness.