Attorney General’s Office and Isanti County Attorney’s Office secure 2nd degree murder, other convictions in Isanti County

Court convicts Fredy Saavedra Olivar on four counts following December 2023 murder of Jose De Jesus Diaz Fernandes

Attorney General’s Office prosecuted this case upon request of Isanti County Attorney, per state law

November 7, 2024 (SAINT PAUL) —  After a court trial lasting four days, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office secured guilty verdicts of Fredy Saavedra Olivar on all four counts — including two counts of 2nd degree murder, and two counts of 1st degree burglary— for the December 2023 murder of Jose De Jesus Diaz Fernandes on a ranch in Spencer Brook Township, Minnesota.

Between December 12 and 13, 2023, Fredy Saavedra Olivar hired three individuals to dress as police officers and burglarize the ranch - a purported drug stash house. Saavedra Olivar provided the men with a gun, drugs, and the stash house’s address, and coordinated with them by phone moments before the crime. During the burglary, Jose De Jesus Diaz Fernandes was shot and killed. Three remaining defendants are pending trial.

Attorney General Ellison’s office prosecuted Saavedra Olivar upon a referral from Isanti County Attorney Jeff Edblad under Minnesota Statutes Sec. 8.01, which provides, “Upon request of the county attorney, the attorney general shall appear in court in such criminal cases as the attorney general deems proper.”

“My thoughts are with the friends and family of the victim, as well as the Spencer Brook Township community. Every Minnesotan deserves equal justice under the law, and my office is here to help provide it. I am pleased that justice was done in this case, and my thanks go to the team that secured this conviction, the agencies that assisted in investigating this crime, and to Isanti County Attorney Jeff Edblad for his partnership. My Office stands ready to assist Minnesota’s county attorneys in prosecuting crime, securing justice, and making sure every Minnesotan can live with dignity, safety, and respect,” said Attorney General Ellison.

Attorney General Ellison thanks the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Isanti County Sheriff’s Office, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the East Central Drug and Violent Offenders Task Force, and the Washington County Drug Task Force, who assisted in the investigation and successful prosecution of this crime.