Tofte shooter pleads not guilty by self-defense

A Finland, Minnesota, resident pled not guilty by reason of self-defense during a hearing Friday morning in District Court in Grand Marais to a second-degree murder charge in the death of a Bloomington man as the result of a shooting in the parking lot of Bluefin Bay Grille in Tofte.

A criminal complaint against 61-year old Kirk Lee Bigby was filed on Thursday afternoon.  He was arrested for shooting and killing 35-year old Marcus Lee Roberts on Wednesday, Dec. 9.

During Friday’s courtroom hearing, Judge Michael Cuzzo set an unconditional bail for Bigby at $1 million. That amount followed a request from Cook County Attorney Molly Hicken, who said Bigby would be a threat to public safety if released on bail, adding that Bigby acted “without warning, without provocation” when he shot Roberts.

Public Defender Brent Olson represented Bigby during the hearing and requested bond be set at $10,000 cash, with that money going directly to the Cook County Courthouse. Due to his client’s poor health and lack of a violent criminal background, Olson requested that Bigby be released under various guidelines and restrictions, including an electronic-monitoring device and that Bigby turn over all of his firearms to the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.

To start the hearing Friday, members of Roberts’s family were allowed to listen via conference call to the courtroom proceedings. Prior to the hearing, Judge Cuzzo spoke on the telephone with the family members and gave explicit instructions for them not to speak while court was in session. As Olson explained Bigby’s heart condition and other medical requirements that would be difficult to deal with while in custody, a member of the Roberts family loudly stated “good.” This quickly prompted Judge Cuzzo to end the conference call and thus eliminated the victim’s family from learning the bail amount.

Bigby appeared in the courtroom Friday morning dressed in orange jail-issued sweatshirt and pants. His eyes were wide throughout the proceedings and several times he wiped sweat from his brow with his hands, though they were shackled together. 

And while Bigby claims he is not guilty by reason of self-defense, according to the criminal complaint there was no altercation leading up to the shooting. Witnesses say they saw the victim walk up to Bigby and that is when he allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Roberts. Roberts was a blackjack dealer hired to work the resort's employee holiday party.

Bigby was later found in the unit where he was staying along with a .45 caliber gun matching shell casings found next to the body.

An autopsy on Roberts is being conducted at the St. Louis County Medical Examiner's office.

Bigby is scheduled to appear in District Court in Grand Marais again on Dec. 28 at 10 a.m.