Background: News footage of the scene outside Lyle Maske's property in Brainerd, Minn., where he was found shot dead on Nov. 1, 2024 (KARE). Inset (left): Chad Aanerud (Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office). Inset (right): Lyle Maske (Brenny Family Funeral Chapel).
A Minnesota man who kidnapped his pregnant girlfriend and her four children after gunning down their neighbor has been sentenced to decades behind bars.
Chad Aanerud, 37, pleaded guilty in December 2025 to first-degree murder, kidnapping, two counts of second-degree assault, and burglary in connection with an incident in November 2024 that cost 62-year-old Lyle Maske his life. According to court documents reviewed by Law&Crime, police responded to a call reporting a shooting just before 2 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2024. When police arrived at Maske's home, they found him dead of a gunshot wound in the driveway.
Aanerud later told police that Maske had "'stuck his nose' where it didn't belong," and shot the older man after a confrontation.
On the night of Oct. 31, 2024, Aanerud's girlfriend, who was pregnant at the time, told her four children to run to Maske's house after she said Aanerud sexually assaulted her. They obeyed, and when they arrived at the Maske home next door, they told Maske's wife that Aanerud was "robbing" them. Maske told his wife that he wanted to go next door to "see what was happening." He decided against bringing his rifle with him, believing that it could "make the situation worse."
Another woman living with the Maskes drove him down the driveway and dropped him off. She then returned to the Maskes' home to stay with the children.
Ten minutes later, Aanerud showed up at the Maskes' door with his own rifle, demanding that the woman and Maske's wife return "his kids" to him and threatening to kill them. He fired the rifle while inside the home. Aanerud forced the children outside and into a white van, where his girlfriend was already waiting in the front seat.
The woman living with the Maskes went looking for Maske and found him on the ground, covered in blood. She called 911, believing he was already dead. When police arrived and attempted to render aid to Maske, they noticed that the house where Aanerud's girlfriend and children had been living was engulfed in flames.
An Amber Alert was issued for the children, and police tracked down the van a few hours later. Police said Aanerud's girlfriend had visible injuries to her face, neck, and chest. The children were unharmed.
Police said Aanerud "smelled strongly of gasoline or another inflammable substance," and he was arrested. His girlfriend told police that she saw him "dumping buckets full of gasoline or diesel" over the home after stealing firearms from it. She also witnessed the confrontation between Aanerud and Maske, which ended with Aanerud fatally shooting the older man and saying, "see motherf—er, I told you 'Shut up.'" He then threatened to kill her if she did not get in the van.
Aanerud pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, kidnapping, two counts of second-degree assault, and burglary. As part of the plea agreement, more than a dozen additional charges were dropped, including second-degree murder, criminal sexual conduct, four kidnapping charges, and one arson charge.
On Tuesday, Aanerud was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 30 years.
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